Two Dragons
by Tornado 666
Summary: Tora Lireal is Seto Kaiba'a girlfriend, but she's also the holder of an ancient power that was once held by the princess of Egypt in Yami's time. With the rare hunters searching for the Egyptain god cards she teams up with Isis Ishtar to save the world.
1. The Mysterious Visit

Tornado: Hey people.  I'm writing yet another fic because my brain is overloaded with ideas and if they keep circulating any longer I think my head's going to explode.

DT: Which would just be a bloody mess that no one wants to clean up.

Tornado: Besides, I kind of need my head if I want to pass next school year.

DT: Let's hope this fic gets more reviews than your other one.

Tornado: Which one, DT, I have three others.

DT: Your most recent one.

Tornado: If anyone that reads this feels like reading another Kaiba story you can read The Spirit Behind the Blue Eyes, and tell me how it is.  It's really slow, but it's coming along.

DT: On with the fic.

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Work.  That's all I seem to do any more.  The company's stocks are skyrocketing from the recent releases that we've made, but that just means more paperwork for me to complete.  This is not the life for a fifteen year old.  Thankfully Duel Monsters distracts me from the hassles of the life that I lead.

My employees are incompetent when it comes to computers, and the board members are all over me every second of the day.  I pity my boss because he has to deal with them before I do.  That's our deal.  He deals with the board, and I deal with the employees.

He works too hard.  The guy's been through things that should have destroyed him, yet he stands tall, refusing to give up or lose any fight.  He's an asshole sometimes, but he is my boyfriend as well as my best friend.

The frustration that I feel is escaping through my fingertips.  I pound the keys on my laptop harder than usual, but it makes little noise.  I check the bank accounts to see that all of the money is accounted for and who all has accessed the accounts that day.  It's a boring process, but somebody has to do it.  It all frustrates me.  Work, school, play, him, Duel Monsters, all of it.  It just makes me want to scream.

I hear footsteps in the hallway, and prepare to launch a brutal attack for the person that dares to interrupt me.  I hear the door squeak open, but don't look up to see the occupant.  All is quiet for several minutes before heavy steps enter. Immediately I know its him.  No one else in the office wears combat boots or a long coat to billow in the wind.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready?" a deep, cold voice asked from behind me.

"Too much work to be done before I can escape this place," I answered.

I felt his hands land gently on my shoulders, and slide down my back.  I never ceased in typing as he massaged my shoulder blades.

"Look, I have a lot of work to do.  If there's a point to this visit, please get to it," I snapped.

He laughed.  Not in a jolly tone, but a cold one.  "You're becoming more and more like me everyday."

"Thanks for the compliment, now if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do," I told him still never looking up from my computer.

"You need more play in your life.  All you do now is sit up here in your office and work, or go to dinner with me."

"Forgot a few things.  I eat, I sleep, I poop, and I have sex."

He laughed, again, this time lighter than the last.  It flowed through my body like blood.  He was so damn addictive. 

"You need to get a real life, Tora," he said as he spun my chair around to face him.

His sapphire eyes had a frosty look to them.  He wore a navy blue trench coat over a black long-sleeve shirt and a pair of black leather pants.  His wardrobe changed so often, I usually didn't know what color scheme he was going for.  I reached up and played with a lock of his light brown hair.  He was so hot.

"Look, I have to go out for a while, but I should be back shortly."

"Where are you going?"

"Don't worry about it," he said as he kissed my forehead.

He turned away from me, and strode toward the door.  I leaped up from my chair, grabbing his arm before he could reach the open door.

"Where are you going?" I asked again, this time a bit more urgent than the last.

"I told you not to worry about it," he answered in a slightly impatient voice.

"The last time you told me not to worry you and your brother both ended up with soulless bodies, and you had to rely on your worst enemy to save you."

He stared at my face for a long time with forlorn eyes.  I struck him hard like I did a lot these days.  He always insisted that he was right, but in reality he made some foolish decisions. He enveloped me in a tight hug, and I rested my head against his firm chest.  Just recently he had started giving me more affection, right after Duelist Kingdom to be exact.  It was as if the events that happened showed him what all he had, and how quickly it could all disappear.  

"It's nothing like that, Tora.  I'm just going to the Domino Museum.  I promise that I'll be back in at the most an hour."

"What the hell are you going to the Domino Museum for?" I inquired. 

"To check on something."

He kissed my head one more time before leaving.  I stared after him, wondering what the hell could interest him at the museum.  Certainly not that new Egyptian exhibit that I had heard about in the evening news, but perhaps it had something to do with a science gadget or something or other.  I vision sped across my mind of him going to a museum to purchase a nuclear warhead to bomb Yugi's house with. I laughed out loud at my own ridiculous accusation, and went back to work on my laptop, still wondering Domino Museum held for the great Seto Kaiba. 

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Tornado: What did you think?

DT: When you first started typing I thought it was from Kaiba's point of view.

Tornado: I think this story will be done from the same POV for the entire thing.  It depends where this story goes.

DT: I'm not quite sure how this story is going to turn out, but it seems okay.

Seto: I have a girlfriend? All right! *does a little dance thingy*

Tornado: Please R&R, and if you liked this fic try reading The Spirit Behind the Blue Eyes.


	2. Plans

Tornado: It's me again.  I forgot to put the Disclaimer in the last chapter.  I think those of you that read it got the idea that I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

DT: Last chapter just set up the story, this chapter should get a little more interesting.

Tornado: The only thing that I own is Tora.

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An hour later he was back.  The first thing he did was stop into my office.  I sat, still typing on my computer, but this time when he entered I acknowledged him.

"So, what's up?" I asked still typing.

"I have a proposition for you," he began.

"What kind of proposition?"

"The kind where you get more work to do."

"Oh happy-happy-joy-joy," I told him with my voice stained in sarcasm.

"It's the kind of work that you enjoy," he continued.

"What kind of work do I enjoy?"

"I need you to arrange something for me."

This caught my attention.  I was intrigued with curiosity, but I never stopped typing on my laptop.

"What is it, exactly, that you want me to arrange?"

"A tournament."

I abruptly stopped typing, my hands hanging in midair, my brain feebly attempting to process what he had just said.

"A tournament?" I asked, resuming my typing.

"Yes, a tournament.  I'll be helping you with everything, but we need to initiate plans as soon as possible."

"Why such the short notice?  You know it takes weeks to organize a well-oiled tournament."

"Actually, I need it done in four days."

Now there was no chance that I could have kept typing.  My hands flew from the keyboard to my desktop, and pushed me away from my working space.  I jumped out of the chair, allowing it to hit the wall, and walked up to the man the stood in front of me.

"Could you please say that again because I didn't quite catch the amount of time that I have."

"Four days, Tora.  Just four days."

"Are you out of your fucking mind?  There's no way in hell that I can organize anything in four days!  Even if I do accomplish it, which I probably won't, it's going to look like it was being run by a bunch of fucking monkeys!"

"First, you won't be doing it alone, I'll be helping you along with any number of people that you need, and secondly, this has to be better than Duelist Kingdom.  I won't be second rate to Pegasus."

I took a deep breath.  This was insane.  There was virtually no way that I could arrange this in four days, especially since it had to be the greatest tournament ever.  Pegasus's Duelist Kingdom was said to have been the greatest Duel Monsters tournament in the history of the game.  I should know, I helped arrange security for it.  I even attended the damned thing, and it was virtually flawless.  I would have made it to the fucking finals too, but somebody had to go and screw things up.

"Where the hell are we going to hold this?  Seto, have you even thought about who will be attending or how many for that matter?" 

He sat down on my leather couch, and motioned me to sit on the loveseat across from him.  I fell into the black material, staring at him like he was form the planet Mars.  /You'd better have thought long and hard about this/…

"Here's the deal.  We start with a hundred twenty duelists who slowly get eliminated to four.  Those four go to the finals.  The finals is held privately, and only those who have x number of something get in.  The winner of the tournament is declared World Champion."

"Is this another chance for you to get back at Yugi?"

"Yes, and no.  There are two reasons that I want to do this.  One is to get back at Yugi.  The other is something that I can't really tell you about, but in good time I will."

I was silent for several minutes.  I came to me that this tournament had come up suddenly, but what had triggered this?  I dug deeper into my mind searching for answers in the cluttered chambers of my brain.  I knew one thing, this had to do with the mysterious visit to the Domino Museum.

"Why did you go to the museum?" I asked trying to ease my troubled mind.

He sighed, and leaned back farther into the leather couch.  It was as if he wanted to tell me, but he was not sure of my reaction to his words.  I decided that it was best to let him struggle with himself for a couple of moments, but to my surprise, he soon spoke.

"Have you heard about that new Egyptian exhibit at the museum?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"The woman that brought that stuff here, Isis Ishtar, she called me, inviting me to a private showing of 'something that would change my life.'"

"And you went because?"

"Have you ever heard of Egyptian god cards?"

I know my face paled.  How the hell did he know about those things?  How much had Isis told him?  I thought back to the conversation that the two of us had a few days ago.  She had said that she needed to find a duelist that she could entrust with Obelisk.  I had automatically said Yugi, but she had seemed doubtful about it.  She had than said she had a plan that would draw the rare hunters to us and dump Obelisk into a safe hiding place.  Was she honestly stupid enough to trust the ruthless Seto Kaiba with such a valuable card?

"Vaguely," I told him.

He quickly explained the little bio that Isis had given him.  I knew it all and more.  What had Isis showed him?

"She gave me one of the god cards, Obelisk the Tormentor, and she told me to arrange a tournament that would draw the rare hunters to it," he finished.

I knew what she had done, and it infuriated me. She had done this behind my back.  Sure she had a plan; a plan to use Kaiba's name to draw top duelists with rare cards, which would definitely attract the rare hunters, and she knew that if she gave Kaiba one of the strongest cards in the world, he would not hesitate in using it.  It was so ingenious.  Still pissed me off that she hadn't told me what she intended to do, but it was brilliant.

"Four finalist sounds like too small a number of duelists.  Let's make it eight.  Where do you think this should be held?"

"I thought that we could exploit our influence on the governor a tad, and hold it in the city."

Now that was an idea.  Pegasus had an island, but we have a city with places to eat, plenty of space for numerous duels to be going on within a one-block radius, and most importantly, bathrooms!  That was the one thing that Pegasus forgot was the goddamned bathrooms.  No problem for the guys, but the girls that was another story.

"We need a portable device that you duel anywhere with, like your holographic duel systems."

"I was thinking that it was time for a new model.  One that you didn't have to spin."

"That would be good.  We need to link them all to one satellite so we can monitor the duels, and perhaps broadcast them over the Internet."

"That's good.  If this going to be better than Duelist Kingdom though, we're going to need some new rules."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I was thinking that to summon high leveled monsters you have to sacrifice a certain number of monsters on the field to summon them."

/Oh, you're too good Isis.  You even showed him those little visions of the past.  Now, he's taking those images and turning them into rules for a tournament that you told him to arrange./  It was all too good.  

"Okay, now for the finals.  If you want this to be better than Duelist Kingdom you have to do two things.  First, make everything portable, like we discussed, and second, up the technology.  The one thing Duelist Kingdom didn't have was a way to make sure that all duels were played fairly, and none of the star chips were stolen.  I'm thinking that we have the finals in a secret location that nobody knows about except us because we know that we won't cheat.  We have no use for it, but I wish I could say that for all duelists.  We have some sort of technological card that when x number of them are stacked together they produce a map of Domino City, and a satellite transmits the location to the cards/map."

"That still doesn't solve the cheating problem."

"Now you're getting ahead of me.  The satellite then goes back and checks the player's statistics.  This is where the transmitters in the Duel Disks come in."

"Doesn't that seem like a lot for one satellite to do?  I, mean because we need one to monitor the duels."

"So we use two.  How many do we have up there right now? Three or four at least."

"Five.  Three of them aren't being used."

"We temporarily reprogram them to do our dirty-work for us.  One can manage the duels, one can manage the locator cards like keeping track of who won what duels and how many cards they've won, the last one can be our center of intelligence.  You said something about rare hunters with other Egyptian god cards, we can use that satellite to keep of all the cards played at any given point in time."

"That's a lot to arrange in four days."

"Yeah, but we don't need it _all _done in four days.  Right now we need to focus on the Duel Disks, the locator cards, the rules, and the location.  The basics.  The little details we can finalize later.  I want a week between the announcement of the tournament and the actual tournament, which should give us enough time to polish everything.  We're going to need a large staff too.  Their going to be running the whole show with satellites," I paused allowing my words to seep into his skin, before I delivered the next little hit of info.  "We're also going to need a 'judge' running around the city."

"Who the hell knows enough about Duel Monsters and is willing to go through the city managing duels?"

"Either me, or Mokuba."

"Mokuba?  Why Mokuba?"

"Because he's your brother, and I think that the brother of a World Champion would know enough about Duel Monsters to do this."

"Why can't you do it?"

"Seto, take a good look at me.  Do you honestly think that anyone is going to listen to me?"

"More than they will a ten year old."

"Mokuba has one thing going for him that I don't, he's your brother."

"Yeah, but you're my girlfriend…"

"How many people know that?" I asked cutting him off. 

"No one outside of the company."

"And even if they did, that would be all the more reason to lay moves on me and see how long I last before I break."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Well, I was going to manage the satellites.  I mean the overall condition them."

"Okay, if that's what you want…"

"I would like to duel, but I don't trust our employees with the satellite repair."

"All right.   If you do want to duel, just say it."

"I'd rather take care of the satellites."

We sat in silence for a long time.  Seto was the first to speak.

"We'll start tomorrow.  I'll get us some employees to help.  We run the show though.  I'll deal with the governor, and you can start the locator cards.  We need to come up with a strict schedule that things need to be done by."

"What if we can't get Domino?"

"Our back-up location is fifteen mile out of the metropolis."

"Hell's Field?"

"Yep.  Hell's Field."

"It's haunted."

"All the more interesting.  Tomorrow I'll talk to the governor, get the employees, and hopefully finish my Duel Disks.  I'll get the plan over to the company then and tell them to get everything they need ASAP.  When all that shit arrives we should have the location done.  We can start producing them.  You need to come up with a design for locator cards, and get those submitted the moment you're completely finished.  By night we'll work on the rules, which should takes us longer to print than to write.  We'll run tests on both the locator cards and the Duel Disks before we manufacture them.  It's going to be a rocky road, but we can handle it."

"My brain's over-loaded."

He smiled at me.  It was one of the few true smiles that he graced me with.  He knew as well as I did that with more work came less sex.  That sucked, but I had a hunch that he'd try to make up for lost times.  One thing bugged me though.

"How are we going to get our regular work done?"

"We'll be giving big, fat pay raises to the people that are brave enough to do it.  I'll take it easy on them and split it between four people.  Thankfully not all our employees are idiots when it comes to computers.  I say we divvy it up between Rogers, Patterson, um, Prowl, and, uh, Richardson.  They're all single, they aren't overloaded with work, and they get the job done."

"Prowl and Patterson can take my work, they run in my circle."

"Rogers and Richardson run in mine, so that should be good.  They're all workaholics anyway."

"Prowl and Richardson are still here.  Patterson left early, and Rogers left a few minutes ago."

"Talk to Prowl, I'll get Richardson," he said as he got up.

"For reference what kind of pay raise are these people getting."

"I'm saying that this going to be going on for two three weeks, so we'll up it three g's a week."

"That'll make them wet."

"That's what I'm hoping for," he said as he walked out the door.

I was still sitting there staring off into space.  All this had hit me fast.  I now had four days to construct the skeleton of a tournament, and execute the plans.  It was going to take lots of time and even more effort.  My personal life was officially going to be put on hold.  I was used to it though.  This always happened when something came up in the company.  My life had been put on hold after Seto lost to Yugi.  Hell, the guy even left for days after he lost despite me pleas for him to come to Duelist Kingdom with me.  He's so damn stubborn, yet he's so damn hot.

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Tornado: Well, what did you think?

DT: It was kind of boring.  All they did was talk.

Tornado: DT, it's only the second chapter.  You don't get the action packed chapters until later in the story.  Once Battle City starts it'll get more interesting.

DT: I hope so.

Tornado: Thanks to mezu for reviewing.  I appreciate your encouragement.  It's always nice to get a review on the first chapter urging you to continue.  Anyway R&R. 


	3. Let's Get Out of Here

Tornado: Hiya peeps! I'm  putting another chapter up.

DT: This story is probably going to be coming in rapid motion, whether she gets reviews or not.  So don't be surprised if there comes a time when she's putting up two chapters a day.

Tornado: Anyway, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

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I was finally in the elevator heading to the fifth floor where Prowl worked.  My mind was still trying to comprehend how I was going to get this done, and still make it seem like a top quality tournament that was worthwhile for duelists to enter.  Kaiba, I knew, would be saying things that would rally up people who went to Duelist Kingdom.  I wanted nothing to do with the announcement of the tournament because it was going to be nasty.

The elevator stopped, and the golden doors opened to reveal a dark floor.  A lone light was on in one of the cubicles, and I made my way toward it.  I looked in to find a dirty blonde with  silver wire-rimmed glasses hammering away on a black desktop computer.  She had on a stark  gray business suit with a white silk shirt underneath of the blazer.  She took no notice to the fact that I was standing there, one of the disadvantages of having a loud keyboard to type on.

"Miss Prowl," I said quietly.

She spun to face me with alarm on her face.  She had not expected her boss to be standing in her cubical at nine o'clock at night.

"Miss Lireal, I didn't hear come down."

"I know.  That's because you have a typewriter for a keyboard."

"A laptop is not necessary for my line of work," she answered.

"Miss Prowl, there's a purpose to my visit."

She paled slightly.  I knew what was going through her mind.  Not many people had the boss come down to their cubical at night and lived to tell the tale.

"What is your purpose, if you don't mind me asking?" she said in a shaking voice.

"A chance for a temporary pay raise."

She let out the breath that she had been holding, and relaxed a bit more in her navy office chair.

"How much are we talking about here?"

"Three thousand more a week for about two or three weeks."

"So six to nine thousand dollars?"

"Yes, possibly more."

"What do I have to do?"

"A portion of my work."

"You mean your daily work."

"Correct.  I'll have the papers, phone calls, etcetera sent down to you each day."

"That's a lot of work for me to do on top of my regular job.  All of your work usually takes you late nights to finish."

"That's why you'll only be getting half of it, another employee will be getting the rest of it."

"Do you mind if I ask what brings you to drop your workload?"

"Yes I do mind.  You'll find out soon enough."

Without another word, I left her to return to the safety of my office.  She was a nosy person, but a superb worker.  If only she asked less questions she'd spend less time at the office and more time at home.  She'd get the job done though.  I still had a few more things to finish upstairs before I retired for the day.  Something told me that I was going to need all the rest I could scrape for the four days ahead of me.

It was nine thirty when I finally finished all of my work, and was relieved to find that no more had come in.  I sat at my desk for a few minutes, finishing my cola.  I was just about to call the driver when I heard familiar footsteps coming down the hall. The cherry wood door swung open to reveal a very pleased Seto Kaiba. I didn't need to ask to know that we would officially six to nine more thousand dollars poorer.  He simply strode across the room, and came around the desk to offer me a hand.

"I see you're done working.  I called Henry; he said that he would be here shortly," he said as he helped out of my leather office chair.  

A strand of brown hair fell into my line of vision, and brushed it away to have it fall back again.  Annoyed, I put behind my ear before pulling out a mirror from my desk to see if any other strands were endangered of irritating me.  The girl that stared back was pretty enough with her sapphire eyes, black eyelids, and cranberry lips.  The black eyeliner that I had applied this morning was worn thin and in places was missing from rubbing my eyes.  I checked both of my silver hoop earrings to make sure that they were still intact, which they were.  My hand automatically fell to the pendant that m father gave me for my birthday the day he died.  It was a platinum dragon with sapphire eyes.  It looked like one of the blue-eyed dragons, but was indeterminable which one since the only difference in the two were their coloring.

I sat there playing with the pendent for a while before Seto's hand came to rest on my shoulder.  He knew that I missed Fox Run, which is where both Seto and grew up.  Our fathers and our mothers were best friends, and we lived right next door to each other.  His house was my second home, and mine was his.  We had known each other all of our lives, and we're best friends to the end.  Our families were the first two on our street, but that never bothered Seto, me, or my twin brother.  More families moved on to Dragon Lane, and we eventually had a small gang, which contained six people including Seto and me.  There was Vin who lived on the other side of me, Ben who lived across from Seto, Josh who lived across from me, and Matt who lived diagonally from me.  We had nicknames based on our favorite colors, interests, or physical features.  I was Blue-Eyes because I had blue eyes, Seto was Dragon because his father always called him little dragon, Vin was Pyro because he loved fire, Ben was Ice Man because his favorite color was blue, Josh was Cyclone because he loved meteorology, and Matt was thunder because when there was a thunderstorm you could find him sitting on his porch watching it.  I was a girl in a world full of guys, which is probably why the most feminine thing I do is apply make-up and shave.  It was a happy time in my life.  I didn't have a care in the world.  That was then, this is now.

I rose from my chair before anything escaped from the graveyard of my mind.  I have horrors to haunt me that I have worked to eliminate from my present thoughts.  These images have been dead for three years, and I wish for none them to resurrect ever in my lifetime. 

"Do you ever wonder what it would have been like if none of this ever happened?" I asked my life-long friend.

"All the time, but I try not to dwell on it.  Let's get out of here, the car's probably waiting."

We strode out of my office and to the elevator, which opened the moment Seto pushed the down button.  He motioned for me to step inside.  He followed me into the blue and gold confines before the doors closed.  I looked at the emblem of Kaiba Corps that was engraved into the golden doors.  Seto spared no expense to make his company head quarters look more like a hotel than a business office.

I felt his body brush against me, and smiled at my sudden urge to rip off his clothes.  I knew that I could control myself until we were in the sanctuary of his bedroom, but I still intended to give him a taste of what was to come.  I locked my arms around his neck, manipulating him into a passionate kiss.  He wrapped his arms around my waist in response, deepening our kiss. His tongue asked for entrance to my mouth, but I broke the kiss before it could.  He let out a frustrated sigh.

"You're a tease, you know that."

I winked at him and lick my lips.  He rolled his eyes as he shook his head.  I loved to torment him.  I thought back to the conversation that we had before.  We had just taken on an immense project that would frazzle us to no end, yet here we were, toying with each other's minds. Well, more me toying with his mind, but it's all the same to me.

The elevator doors soon opened to unveil the perfectly still lobby.  We both hurried across the floor making more noise than we usually did, and practically jumped down the steps into the awaiting car.  The car ride was more torturing than the elevator because now we couldn't even kiss because of the driver in the front.  I tried to sit there without pouncing on him or even touching him, but my hand wandered to caress his hand.  Then it began to inch a bit southward; I felt him become hard underneath of my hand.  I smirked as he suddenly crossed his legs.  He was so damn cute when he tried to hide the fact that he was aroused.

I glanced out the window to spot the towering form of the Kaiba mansion. There were no lights on inside the house, which meant that Mokuba was most definitely asleep and the maids that cleaned had long since gone home.  No one wanted to be in the house when the mister and miss came home from a long day at work.  We were usually crankier than words could describe if we had a bad day at the office.  Usually when we're horny we just duck through the place, and sprint to the bedroom.  I knew tonight would be no different.  

The car stopped moments later, and Seto got out before the driver could get the door.  

"Thanks, Henry, go home, and get a good nights rest.  I don't know how early we'll need to be in the office," I told him before departing the car.

Seto grabbed my hand, and drug me to the front door.  He shoved his key into the lock, and opened the door, yanking me inside.  We both sprinted noiselessly up the stairwell to the second floor and to the door at the far end of the west hallway. We ended up kissing each other before we even reached the door.  I fumbled with the knob for a bit until I finally got it open.  He kicked the door closed before the back of my legs hit the bed causing us to fall onto the soft silk sheets.  My hands were removing anything that was on his torso, which included those enlarged metal bracelet thingies that he wore.  Before it knew it, he was down to his boxers and I was still fully clothed.

"Seto, before we go too far…" 

"I know, I know," he said before rolling off of me, and disappearing into the bathroom.

I pulled off my shirt, my bra, my pants, oh hell, I just pulled everything off.  Seto soon returned also completely nude.  He didn't throw himself on me like I thought he was going to.  Instead he decided to torture me a bit.  He kissed down my neck careful not to stay in one spot for too long.  I was growing impatient when he thrust into me.  A tidal wave of pleasure over rode my body.  He continued in a slow pace with deep, sensual thrusts.  Surges of pleasure were pulsing through me like an electrical current.   Seto's plunges were becoming faster and stronger.  We climaxed at the same time, and he collapsed on top of me, exhausted form exertion.  My breathing was coming  hard and fast, just as Seto's was.  It took a good ten minutes for our breathing and heart rate to slow into a bearable pace.  

Seto rolled off of me, and situated himself beside me before drawing me to his body.  I rested my head on his chest listening to his beating heart.  He nuzzled me gently before kissing my forehead.  My eyelids grew heavy, and soon slid shut as my body began to recover the energy that it had lost.

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Tornado: That lemon scene was hard for me to write. I hope it's okay.

DT: Who knows.  It took about thirty minutes to write though.  

Tornado: Well, anyway, how's the fic so far?  Plots coming don't worry. R&R.  


	4. Obelisk

Tornado: It's me again.  I'm too impatient to wait for reviews so here's another chapter.

DT: Well, this time I have nothing to say.

Tornado: That's a first.  I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh by the way.

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I stood up on the balcony listening to the mind-less babble of the governor.  He was saying useless things, wasting my time.  There was still things to be done before I could relax, and standing in Seto's private lab listening to a pea-brained politician rant on and on about how he was more than willing to cooperate with Kaiba Corps on anything that we needed.  I was paying more attention to the final test that was taking place beneath me.  

Seto was standing in the middle of the room with his white and red trench coat billowing out behind him.  I glimpsed the look of determination on his face; it was no stranger to me.  He was talking into his earpiece, probably barking orders at the technicians before engaging the duel robot that I had created.  After an eternity, the techno-voice of the robot finally commenced.  I glared over the railing, a bit angry that I was the one stuck with the foolish idiot while he got to have the fun.  Sure he created the damn thing, but if he had created two we would have been able to duel each other.  Not for competition, but for testing.  I shook my head lightly, and turned my attention back to the line, occasionally glancing down at the duel.

"Governor Jacobs, I assure you that everything will run smoothly.  We just need to block Domino off for a week so that our tournament can take place in peace," I assured him.

"All right.  You'll have top security and the whole nine yards.  Good day to you Miss Lireal."

I hung up; not wanting to spend another second of my time listening to worthless shit about making sure everything is run smoothly.  I plan for there to be no mishaps.  We're dealing with rare hunters; there can be no mistakes.  My mind drifted to the things that Isis and had discussed the other night.  Her warning that Marik would be more resolute on getting the pharaoh's power was probably not far from the head.  Now that he had two of the god cards, his head was sure to be inflated at least the slightest bit.  A scream of an all-familiar monster reached my ears, echoing through my mind.

I flew to the edge of the balcony to find myself staring down at the Blue-eyes Ultimate Dragon.  Seto was standing in front of the magnificent beast carrying an expression crossed between amazement and ferocity.  It captivated my attention, though I don't know why.  /So, Houdini, how are you going to get yourself out of this one?/

He seemed to with draw himself from the world for a few moments before drawing his next card.  A shrill laughter filled the air.  /What does he have that can defeat the Blue-eyes Ultimate Dragon?/

"I sacrifice three monsters to summon Obelisk the Tormentor," he cried as the great god rose from behind him.

I stood there, stunned by the immensity of the legendary beast.  

"I know offer my two remaining monsters to you."

A series of explosions caught my attention.  My eyes shot to the control box to see the computers blowing up in the technician's faces.  I abandoned my position immediately, and began sprinting to assist them.  They had it under control by the time that I got there, so I joined Mokuba as he gapped at the monstrosity standing before him.  My hand came to rest on his shoulder as w gazed upon the sight before us.  Seto's laughter rang throughout the arena as he faced the burning remains of my duel robot.  The bitter smell of destruction filled the air accompanied by the smell of burning metal.  I tasted the fear that Pegasus had of the champion monster.  It's power was over whelming my senses.  The boy beside me shivered slightly, even he felt the ancient presence within.  I was eluded by the fact that no one else felt this untamable power.  I feared what was to come in the next weeks.  There would sure be hell roaming through the streets of Domino.

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Tornado: It's just a short chapter to further set up the story.

DT: Was there any real point to the last chapter?

Tornado: Yes, but it's just not present yet.

DT: This is coming along slower than I thought, can we just get to Battle city already?

Tornado: Whatever, DT.  Anyway, R&R.


	5. The Rival

Tornado: The reason last chapter was so short is because I had a good place to stop, and I didn't want to ruin the chapter by going off the subject.

DT: Just bear with her she's trying to manage four stories at once while keeping her mind straight.

Tornado: Last night, I went to sleep, and the Yu-Gi-Oh song was playing in my head all night.

DT: You were singing it out loud too.

Tornado: Well, that's just another thing that I don't own because it's part of Yu-Gi-Oh.

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"Tora?" a voice asked from behind the closed door of my office.

"Come on in, Seto," I called.

The door cracked open a bit before it exposed my boyfriend.  He was still wearing his white trench coat and black turtleneck with black leather pants.  He was sating at me expectedly, as though I had something to tell him.

"What's up?" I asked.

He sat down in the wingback chair in front of me.  His steely eyes were focused on my face in unwavering stubbornness. I knew what ever he said next was not in the open for discussion.

"I want you to duel in Battle City."  
His tone was final, but I found myself arguing with him anyway.

"Why do you want me to duel?  I'm not that good."

"Oh, yeah.  Fourth in the world is just as bad as it gets.  What do you mean you're not that good?  You can hold your own against me."

"Because you take it easy on me."

"I've never taken it easy on you.  You duel well, and now with the new editions that you made to your deck I'm sure I wouldn't fall asleep while we dueled."

"This isn't up for discussion, is it?"

"No, but you knew that.  Get dressed.  You're going downtown to the announcement."

"I don't want to go there!  You know what kind of reaction you're going to get from those people!  Why do you want me to go?"

"It's going to look a little odd if someone that was not at the announcement showed up in the tournament now wouldn't."

"You want me to make sure that Yugi shows up, don't you?"

"No, Tora, I need you down there to mediate things for me.  This is going to be a rough shock to those monkeys what I say about Duelist Kingdom."

"Fine, I'll go, but only because you said this was not up for discussion."

"Thanks, babe, you're the greatest," he said before leaving.  

I checked my watch, and headed to my bedroom.  I had an hour to get dressed and get down there, so I needed to make this semi-fast.  

I rummaged through my closet for something to wear.  I grabbed a red sleeveless leather shirt, a pair of black leather pants, and a black jacket, changing quickly so I could hopefully walk to the site.

I was out the door without saying good-bye to Seto or Mokuba, and began my walk down to the square.  It was quiet enough; of course I was a good six miles from the hustle and bustle of the city.

  The extension of my walk went from the house to the garage where a black Suzuki motorcycle awaited me.  This would be me ride to the city limits, and then I would walk the rest of the way to the square. 

The engine purred when I turned the key, and the garage door opened in front of me.  I put on my black full-face helmet before speeding out of the garage.  I spotted Mokuba standing on the step, bidding me fair well.  I nodded in acknowledgement, and sped out of the estate's gates before turning my sights to the beautiful city of Domino.

There were many duelists present when I arrived.  Most of them I didn't recognize, but some were all too familiar to me.  Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor were the first to welcome me.  They were hotshots, little babies in my opinion trying to make it in the big leagues.  Mako Tsunami greeted me as well.  Mako was a fair duelist and a pretty good flirter.  The guy flirted with any girl that walked by, which included me; it's just to bad that chicks don't dig fish.  I caught a glimpse of the gorgeous Mai Valentine talking to Yugi Moto and a brunette girl that I had never met.  It was odd seeing Yugi talking to two girls, but I knew that it was all innocent, friend talk. My gaze was still resting on the trio when that voice popped out of nowhere.

"Well if it isn't Tornado Lireal.  What an unpleasant surprise to see you here."

I whirled around out of fury to find none other than my ex-boyfriend, Bandit Keith, standing in front of me.

"Why, Keith, you're looking more thuggish than ever," I replied in an icy tone.

His band of cronies appeared beside him, all of them were looking at me with hungry eyes.  It just reminded me of why I resorted to dating my best friend.

"Hey there, baby doll, how about you and me get out of here.  Go find a nice hotel, what do you say?" one of his groupies asked.

I was about to launch a brutal attack when Keith did it for me.

"Eh!  The girl's mine, so watch it!"

"I'm not yours anymore," I hissed.

"Maybe not, but you will be.  Don't forget, Tornado, you're mine.  Let's go boys."

I stared after, not knowing what to do.  /He doesn't own me.  I don't even know what that's supposed to mean./  I knew one thing for certain, sometime in Battle City I was going to take that creep down.  After what he did to me , there was no excuse.  Seto has his rival to take care of, now I have mine.  

"Greeting duelists," a voice said.

Suddenly every TV screen as far as the eye could see held the image of Seto Kaiba.  The guy looked like he was too happy about something to contain, and it freaked me out.  

"As you know, you have been invited to duel in the greatest tournament of all time.  There will be new rules, new surprises, but most importantly the winner of this will be named the World Champion of Duel Monsters.  This tournament is going to make Duelist Kingdom look like a joke."

There were several jeering responses.  Hell the whole place was jeering at Kaiba's words.  He had been right about one thing: this was a shock to those who  attended Duelist Kingdom.  Through the crowd I spied Duke Devlin, the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters and loyal Pegasus fan, staring in a mixture of shock and anger at the image on the television.

The blades of a chopper could be heard over the roar of the crowd.  I turned my head to see one of Kaiba Corps choppers hovering in the sky between the skyscrapers.  

"Don't forget to register before the tournament begins one week from today," the man called hanging from the helicopter.

All I could think about was if he'd fall from that height what it would do to his body on top of killing him.  An image of Seto slipping from the helicopter, and managing to survive the fall only to  be taunted about it flashed across my mind.  The lightening moment caused me gaze up ward.  I found that Seto was staring straight at me with those icy eyes.  I stared back with my own eyes.  I noticed a sudden change in the formation.  At first they had been tightened into a glare, but had rapidly changed into an almost normal look.  I smiled to myself, closing my eyes as I did so.  The chopper disappeared into the distance, taking my boyfriend with it.

Several of the duelists were chatting amongst themselves.  I lowered my head, and fought my way through the crowd to reach the street. 

"Tora! Tora, wait up!"       

I turned my head to find Mai running down the street to catch up with me.  I stopped and waited for the girl to catch up.  She was just as pretty as when I first met her at the Valentine banquet, which was run by her father.

"Hey, girl, it's been a while," she said slightly out of breath.

"Indeed it has.  How have been?"

"Never better.  There's this cutie that you have to meet sometime."

"I'll be sure to take you up on that."

"You know, your boyfriend didn't make too many friends back there.  I thought someone was going to pull out a gun and shoot him."

"I had nothing to do with what he said.  That was all his idea.  I just arranged the tournament."

"Could it possibly be better than Duelist Kingdom?  I mean that was the best tournament in the world."

"Mai, we have something that Duelist Kingdom didn't have.  Bathrooms."

She laughed.  I had made the biggest deal about there not being any bathrooms on the island.

"Is that it?  If it is this is going to be an interesting tournament.  What are these new rules that he was talking about?"

"He just further complicated the game, so now you have to rely more on skill than power."

"You think that'll fly?  I mean, most of those duelists are used to laying down powerful cards the moment they get them."

"That's the whole point.  To eliminate that.  Mai, trust me, we'll be better than Duelist Kingdom."

"I hope so because I was getting bored just sitting at home admiring my cars."

"I wish I could say the same."

We reached the alleyway that I had parked my motorcycle in within a few more minutes.  Mai turned down with me, and, to my surprise, the most unexpected person was waiting for us.

"Seto!" I cried as I picked up my pace to get to him.

he was leaning against my bike with a satisfied smirk planted on his face.  

"Hey, babe," he replied, wrapping his arms around me.  "Think that rallied them up?"

"You're going to have a problem on your hands because they were pissed off as hell," Mai said from behind us.

"Hey, Valentine, long time no see."

"Yeah, whatever.  I need to run.  You two, don't be good," she said, winking before she disappeared down the street.

Seto and I stood there for a few minutes, just embracing each other.  

"I'm driving," he said after five minutes.

"Whatever you say, stud."

He laughed, a true laugh. 

"Let's not start this again, Blue-Eyes."

"Okay, champ."

"Much better," he said before revving the engine, and pulling out of the alley, heading to the Kaiba mansion.

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Tornado: Now this is really sets up the rest of the story.

DT: How?

Tornado: Are you really stupid enough to not have seen that connection?

DT: What connection?

Tornado:\/____\/ R&R.


	6. The Miranda Suites

Tornado: Here's another chappie people.  Hope this will be the start of the more interesting parts.

DT: Let's hope.  This is getting very boring.

Tornado: I don't own Yu-gi-oh.  I own the Miranda Suites by the way, and all of the charcters that are not part of Yu-gi-oh.    
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After waiting a whole week, the tournament had finally arrived.  Tomorrow Battle City would start, turning Domino into an all out war zone.  The anticipation was welling inside of me.  I felt ready, yet I couldn't tell why I was so nervous.  The fact that my rarest cards were at stake made me uneasy, but I was looking forward to acquiring more rare cards to add to my collection.

I double-checked my duffle making sure that I had my outfit for the days ahead.  I was going to be staying in my apartment that was in the highest tower of the Miranda Suites, which was a high-classed business hotel that I owned a large portion of.  I had to say goodbye to Seto one last time before I left.

I found him in his office, which is the first place I always look when I want to find him.  He was typing away at his laptop.  I wondered how long it was going to take him realize that I was standing in the doorway.

"I still don't understand why you have to leave," he said, still pounding away on the keys.

"As of tomorrow, we're rivals, so you and I are no longer dating the minute that I walk out this door."

"But the second the finals are over," he started getting up from his chair, and fastening him arms around my body.  "You're mine again."

"Seto, please don't call me yours."

"Why not?"

"It just makes me feel like I'm your slave or something.  I know it's stupid."

"No.  You're a free spirit.  I can see where you're coming from."

"Thanks.  One more kiss before I go?"

"Of course."

With that, he pressed his lips firmly against mine, drawing me into a sensual kiss.  I broke us apart a few moments later, and turned for the door.  He was still holding my hand, but soon let it drop, freeing me to the world.  I turned down the long hallway, staring at the marble floors.  I didn't quite know why, but it felt as though I was walking out on him forever.

"Don't you go dating any nitwit duelists, you hear," he called down the hall after me.

"Don't you go bringing any strange women in off the street!" I called back.

I took one last look at him.  He was leaning against the frame of the door smiling at me.  Who ever said the guy didn't smile was full of shit, or at least anybody that's seen him outside of the public was.

I reached the garage a few minutes later to find the younger Kaiba brother leaning on my motorcycle.  His wild raven mane blended right in to the machine behind him.  I grinned him.  /What is it with the Kaiba brothers and not letting me leave?/

"What's up, kid?" I asked.

"Do you really have to leave?" the boy inquired.

"Yes.  Your brother and I are rivals now; I can't live in the same house as my adversary and still expect to have my edge."

"Okay.  I'm going to miss you."

"It's only until the tournament ends.  I'll tell you what," I said, kneeling down to his level.  "If you can get your brother to let you, maybe you can spend the night sometime."

"Really?  That wouldn't mess up the whole rival thing?"

"I said I couldn't socialize with Seto, not you."

Mokuba hugged me tightly, and I returned it.  I knew why Seto loved this kid so much; he was so damn adorable.

"I'll try to take you up on that, but I don't think it's going to fly."

"Try anyway.  This is Seto we're talking about.  Give him a good set of puppy eyes; that always gets him, but don't tell him that I told you to do it.  He'll have my head on a silver platter."

"No he won't.  He loves you."

"That has yet to be determined," I informed him as I strapped by bag to the back of the bike.

"What?  He hasn't told you that yet?"

"It doesn't surprise me.  It's Seto for crying out loud.  The guy doesn't think that he could love anybody besides you.  He may be a good boyfriend; he just has a little problem with voicing his feelings.  He's the kind of guy that shows you he cares instead of tells you."

"At least you understand that.  Some of his other girlfriends were just so set on being told that they're loved."

"Love is not words it's a feeling.  As long as two people feel it, there is no need for you to say it."

"Don't you love Seto?"

"Kid, there's one thing I learned from my other boyfriends: love takes time.  And somebody that knows what real love is.  Your brother wouldn't recognize love if it came up and bitch-slapped him." 

"But do _you_ love Seto?"

"Still deciding.  Mokuba, I've only been dating the guy for four months, that's not enough time to know.  Trust me, I wouldn't waste your brother's time if I thought that it wasn't a possibility."

"Now the other thing is to get him to identify it, right?" Mokuba asked.

"That's for him to see.  Love means a different thing to everyone.  I only know what it means to me."

He considered this for a few minutes.  The kid had lots of girls lined up around the block for him.  I couldn't blame them.  For a ten year old the kid was very handsome, and was quite the ladies' man.  I don't know where he got it from, but he was a hell of a good flirter.  Seto would be too if he let himself go every once in a while. 

"Look, I have to run.  I'm supposed to be meeting someone," I said, swinging my leg over the bike, and putting my helmet on.  "Take good care of your brother for me.  I'll see you in Battle City!"

With that, I revved my engine, and took off down the lane.  I was going too fast for my own good, but the adrenaline rush was just what I needed to clear my mind.  The gates opened, creating a portal from the business atmosphere to the real world.  I felt a great amount of weight lift off of my shoulders, as my heart thundered in my ears. Velocity was my savoir of reality; my portico to the paranormal universe.  Here I was not Tornado Lireal, but rather Blue-Eyes, the leader of a band of biker boys that didn't know the words give up.  For that matter, neither did I.

 The Miranda Suites was a classy hotel where upper-class business executives stayed during business meetings.  I fell into that category.  I, the vice president of Kaiba Corps, was one of them by stature, but not by heart.  That's all that mattered to me.  

I pulled my motorcycle up to the valet station, and got off, leaving it to a brunette teen-ager who was gawking at it.

"Nice ride," the boy said amazed.

"It's my baby.  Take care of it."

"Oh I will."

"You're new here aren't you?" I asked.

"Yeah.  I just started like a week ago."

"I'm Tornado Lireal.  You'll be seeing more of me."

"I'm Derek Azure."

"Derek, how old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"Kind of car you drive?"

" My dad drops me off."

"You take care of this bike, I'll take care of you."

I winked, and strode into the lobby area of the hotel, earning several looks from the other guests.  I was a sore thumb with my red and black leather.  It was a sea of business suits, tuxes, and dresses, and here I was in a biker's outfit.  I began to wonder if the kid had been gawking at the bike, or me.

"Miss Lireal, how good to see you again," the receptionist said.

"Hello, Molly, how have you been?"

"Never better.  Your suite's ready if you want to go up."

"Can you get me a porter to take my bag up?  I think I'm going to eat dinner first."

"Are you trying to cause trouble?"

"Of course not, I just I don't feel like going to change just to eat.  I'm quite comfortable now."

"You're already getting looks from every guest that walks by, isn't that enough?"

"I just want to eat, Molly.  Last time I checked that wasn't a crime."

"You're a braver soul than I'll ever be.  Marcus!  Can you take Miss Lireal's bag to her suite?" the redhead called to a very muscular brunette.

"Of course.  Miss Lireal, it's good to see you again."

"Thanks, Marcus, how's the baby?"

"Good, very good."

"That's good news."

"How's the boyfriend?"

"Busy as usual."

"I heard about that tournament.  My daughter's all excited, and it worries me."

"Now worries, Marcus, there aren't any cute duelists at this thing.  I think I have the only one."

He laughed heartily.  "Tell Kaiba I said 'hello'," he said before leaving with my bag.

"Will do."

I turned towards the restaurant, trying to imagine the looks I was going to get from the other diners.  My luck was now gone; the hostess at the restaurant was Tabitha Gilbert, a die-hard Kaiba fan, that would do anything to get him.  She was butt ugly with her frizzy black hair and her muddy eyes.  I decided I'd try to be nice to her, but wouldn't extend it any further if she became snippy with me.

"Well look what the cat drug in," the girl started.  "What are you doing here alone?  Seto, kick you out?"

"That's Kaiba to you, and there's a little thing going on called Battle City, which starts tomorrow.  Yours truly is in it."

"Oh, he's so handsome.  I knew he'd eventually kick you out."

"Look, just get me a table before I lose my cool.  I tried to be nice, but you're pissing me off.  Just do your job so we don't have to look at each other any longer than necessary."

"Scared to have a word battle with me?"

"It'd be too embarrassing to waste my time."

"Your dress doesn't comply with the dress-code."

"There is no dress-code, so get me a seat."

"There is now.  Your outfit doesn't match the description."

"Yeah, well your personality doesn't match the job description either, so I think you can let this pass, unless you don't want the job."

"Right this way."

I smiled, satisfied that I had shut her up, and followed her to a table in the center of the restaurant.  I had to laugh. She was trying to draw attention to me, but it wasn't going to work.  Half of the people dining knew me well enough or had done enough business with Kaiba Corps to know that my casual exterior was just a façade for my off time.  I was professional when I was required to be.

"Tora!" a voice called from a table behind me.

I spun around to find Roger Renoir motioning for me to join them.  I complied, leaving Tabitha speechless as I took the empty seat next to the CEO.

"Mr. Renoir, how good to see you," I said politely.

The other guests at the table were giving me sour looks.  They seemed insulted that I had taken a seat at their table.       

"And just who are you?" a snowy haired woman asked in a French accent.

"This is Miss Tornado Lireal," Renoir prompted.  "Tora, this is Mr. and Mrs. Bridges.  Mr. Bridges is the CEO of Massacre incorporated, which is located in France," he said motioning to the snowy-haired woman and a graying man.

"Enchante," I said.

"Oui, mademoiselle," Mr. Bridges replied, kissing my hand.

"Enchante," Mrs. Bridges replied, kissing both of my cheeks.

Ah, the French were so sophisticated, and always lightened when spoken to in their native tongue.

"This is Mr. Rinehart.  He is the vice president of Rinehart wines, which is also in France," Renoir continued, pointing to a young, dark haired man.

"Pleasure," he said in an English accent.

"Like wise," I replied.

"And this is his son, Matthew," he finished waving to the boy sitting on the right side of his father.

He had blonde hair and fierce blue eyes that reminded me of Seto's icy sapphires.

"Pleased to meet you," he told me in an American accent.

"You're American?" I asked, surprised.

"Can't get anything by her," Rinehart proclaimed.  "Roger, how do you know this girl?" 

"She's the vice president of Kaiba Corps, Mark."

"No!" Mrs. Bridges exclaimed.

"Aren't you also a duelist?" Matthew asked.

"Yes, that's why I'm here."

"Ah, yes, the Battle City tournament no doubt," he replied.

"Yes, that would be it."

"Isn't Kaiba hosting that?"

"As well as competing in it."

"Are you manning the control center?" Renoir asked.

"That's originally what I was going to do, but I'll be participating."

"Watch out for her, Matthew.  Rumor is she's good," Renoir told the boy.

"I'll be sure to steer clear until the finals," he replied.

"You'll be participating as well?" I asked.

"Yes, and I want that title badly."

"That's what it's all about," I said as I glanced at my watch.  "I do hate to do this, but I'm afraid I have an appointment that I must go to."

"It is shame you'll leaving us so soon," Renoir said.  "But time is money, right."

I nodded in agreement.  "It was a pleasure meeting all of you," I said before rising from my chair, and the gentlemen did the same.

"I'll be looking forward to dueling you in the finals," Matthew said. 

"If you last until finals," said as I walked away from the table.

"She's fiery, that one, but an amazing businesswoman," I heard Renoir say.

I soon was out of the restaurant, and heading to the valet station.  Derek immediately jumped out of the booth, and went to fetch my cycle.  I smirked at his enthusiasm, and reminded myself to tip him well.  I closed my eyes, listening for that low purr my engine gave off.  I heard it the minute the engine was started, and a few seconds later the boy had it standing in front of me.  I smiled at him as he got off.

"It's all yours.  It's an amazing machine."

"What nights do you work?" I asked him.

"Every night from eight until eleven."

"You'll be seeing much more of me," I said as I strapped on my helmet, and pulled out a twenty from my wallet, handing it to the boy.  

He was astonished at the generous tip that I had given him.

"I told you: 'you take care of my bike, I'll take care of you'," I said before speeding off.

My destination was only a few blocks away, but I felt like a good ride.  I weaved in and out of cars until I reached the Domino Museum.  I pulled into a parking space and hoped off of the bike, not bothering to remove my helmet, and jogged up the steps, striding into the museum.  Isis was already there with her team of bodyguards.

"You're early," Isis said.

I stared into her turquoise eyes; they contrasted her long, midnight hair that cascaded over her back.

"Well," I started, removing my helmet.  "I didn't beat you so I'm not too early."

She said nothing as she waved her guards off, and walked toward the Egyptian exhibit.  I followed, knowing that whatever she was going to tell me was going to change my life forever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tornado: I just wanted to let you know that this is based on the English version, so it takes place in the US.

DT: If you pay close attention to when Isis arrives at the airport, her greeters welcome her to America, so that's what we're going on.

Tornado: I didn't know how to spell her English name.  There was a point to this chapter, and the next one will be interesting, and explanatory.  It should explain the purpose of some of the chapters. R&R.


	7. The pendant of Osiris

Tornado: Hey peeps!  Another chappie.

DT: This is just now starting to get interesting.

Tornado: I hope this attracts some reviews.  If you read this story, please review.  I don't even care if it's a flamer, just review.  I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh by the way.  If there's a monster that you've never heard of it's probably mine.

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I stared into the glass that encased the immense tablets blankly.  Isis had still said nothing since, and I was becoming bored with the hieroglyphics that labeled the tablets.  All of it had been intriguing the first time that I had seen them, but now it was a bore.  I had read it all before, now I was waiting for Isis to inform me of the purpose of my visit.

"There are some things that I must tell you before the tournament begins," she stated.

"Please enlighten me."

"Marik is more determined than ever to get the pharaoh's power."

"What does he want with the pharaoh's power?"

"To create an all powerful monster that could destroy the world.  Tora, you have no idea how vital it is that you stay out of his way."

"Why?  What's this got to do with me?"

"Everything.  That is why I called you here tonight.  Please, I urge you to listen, and not ask any questions until I'm through."

"You have my undivided attention."

"Good.  I should start from the top; this is all about taking over the world.  What he needs is the pendant of Osiris, the pendant of the Blue-eyes.  You're wearing that pendant around your neck.  Don't interrupt," she said, as I was about to speak.  "I know what you're going to say, and it is best explained through the history of the pendant.

"Five thousand years ago, there lived a pharaoh named Yami.  He controlled all of Egypt in a time destruction.  Monsters were threatening to take over the world.  The god cards to be exact.  He turned to his high priest to lock the monsters away forever, but the priest he could not do it alone, so the pharaoh's sister assisted the priest.  Together they created a monster that could be controlled only by them, but the monster did good instead of evil.  It bent to its masters' wishes.  Soon the world was free of the monsters that once threatened to destroy the world, and they were sealed away in stone tablets.  This process took the priest and the princess two years to complete.

"Afterwards, the pair was known as the best sorcerers in Egypt.  This made the pharaoh uncomfortable, for he feared they would attempt to steal the throne.  The pharaoh let this ride, but soon found that the two had become lovers.  Yami could not stand for this, so banished the priest from the palace.  The princess was furious with him, but her loyalty to her country prevented her from joining the former priest.  She never forgot his name, Seth.

"Years passed, and all was well in Egypt, but unbeknownst to the royal family, Seth was plotting revenge.  He planned to take the throne from the pharaoh, and to rule Egypt with his lover at his side.  He had not forgotten the princess.  Her name will sound familiar to you, Tora, Sheatana," she paused allowing me time to interject.

"Sheatana?  That's the Arabic for female devil, or devlette so to speak.  Who would name a princess that?"

"Who would name a child Tornado?  It's the same thing.  The girl was prophesized to be the strongest of her time.  Everyone in the family had high expectations for her.  She was to marry a strong leader, and have children of her own, passing on her powers.  There was one thing that the prophecy didn't count on.  She was not supposed to fall in love with the high priest."

"So, you're telling me that the sorcerer in the tablets was the same person that helped lock away the monsters?"

"How do you think that he discovered how to unleash the monsters?  He knew how they were imprisoned, so it was only a matter of time before he unleashed them."

"The tablets state that the sorcerer wanted the world?"

"The world in that time was Egypt.  They thought they were all-powerful, which they were when they controlled the monsters. 

"The pharaoh was oblivious to the traitors until they marched into his chamber and declared war, and being the pharaoh, Yami knew that he could not refuse.  So their epic battle began.  The priest dueled himself instead of having his followers do it for him while the pharaoh's servants dueled for him.  That was until the priest summoned his strongest monster, the Blue-eyes White Dragon.

"Now, the entire royal family had been watching the war the entire time.  Among them was Princess Sheatana, who remembered the priest the moment she laid eyes on him, but now she was married to the leader of Egypt's army under her brother's orders.  She was not happy, and threatened the pharaoh with the idea of her running away. 

"Before Seth had left the palace, he had given Sheatana a token of his love, a pendant of the monster that they created together.  It was platinum with sapphires, and it held the true power of the monster.  It was the eighth millennium item.

"When the Blue-eyes White Dragon was summoned, the pendant glowed brightly.  It was there that the Blue-eyes White Dragon's power had lain dormant, but it was also the key to their monster.

"The pharaoh finally agreed to duel the sorcerer, and it was then that the true meaning of the duel was said.  The pharaoh now knew that the priest wanted the throne and the princess.  The pharaoh refused to give those things up, so he summoned the Dark Magician, his most powerful monster to fight against the Blue-eyes White Dragon.  The fight between the two monsters waged on for four days before the dragon could not fight any longer. It collapsed after a brutal attack from the Dark Magician, leaving the priest with no option.  He had to forfeit.

"Sheatana had been watching, and knew what would become of the sorcerer.  She could not let it happen.  She did something that would rewrite history, she turned against the pharaoh."

"Why though?  You said that she was loyal to her country.  Why would she betray her own brother?" I asked, confused by the story.

"I said she was loyal to her country, not she was loyal to the pharaoh.  She was mad at the pharaoh for separating her from her love, and that's what caused her to betray him."

"So what, she beat the pharaoh up, and claimed the throne for her and the priest?"

"If only it was that simple.  She summoned the second half of the monster that she helped create, the Blue-eyes Black Dragon, which you hold in your deck.  She then joined the priest in his battle against the pharaoh, but the pharaoh was not going to give up that easily. He summoned the Egyptian god cards to win the duel for him."

"Which is why he won, and the world is still safe, right?" I asked.  It was all too predictable.

"No.  Seth and Sheatana were left with no choice; they had to summon their monster.  They fused the six Blue-eyed Dragons together using the pendant to create the Blue-eyes Mega Dragon, which was a silver dragon with sapphire eyes.

"The pharaoh lost all sense of reason, and merged the powers of the god cards into one, the Dragon of Bastet."

"Bastet is the cat god.  Why the hell would there be a dragon for a cat god?" I inquired.

"First of all, it goddess, not god.  Secondly, Egyptians valued their cats a lot.  I didn't create the monster so I don't know.  To continue…

"The Dragon of Bastet was said to be the strongest monster, but, somehow, the Blue-eyes Mega Dragon was able to defeat the powerful monster.  The gods were once again sealed away in the tablets, and peace returned to the earth.

"Seth and Sheatana did not take the throne as they had said they would.  Instead they parted with final goodbyes for the sake of the world.  They feared if their dragon got out of control the world would be destroyed.  The six Blue-eyed Dragons were never to be placed together again, and that's how life went.  The pharaoh still on the throne, and the princess once again separated from her lover as she had been before the battle.  The tablets were written to the pharaoh's liking, but it is said that he did not lie about the winner of the duel, but we'll never know because, as you can see, the winner of the duel has been worn away over time," Isis said, finishing her story.

"Why is the pendant called the Pendant of Osiris?" I asked.

"Because the monster it created was said to bring death and destruction.  Your father found the pendant through Shadi, who has been guarding the millennium items for five thousand years.  He and I were friends, and one day I foresaw his death.  Of course I immediately told him about it because we had to get the pendant to another able person.  He said that you were the best choice, and made me promise that I would one day explain it all to you.  Your father was murdered.  The car crash was staged."

"If he knew that he was going to die, why did he go to work that day?  Why didn't he just call in sick?"

"Because he knew that you couldn't change time.  Time is the one thing that is unchangeable.  And he believed in destiny.  That was his destiny.  He was going to fulfill it."

"So, he left my brother and me to my grandfather?  Sounds like he cared a lot about us.  He was more focused on this destiny shit than taking care of his own family!" I cried.

"He made sure that nothing bad was going to happen to either of you.  I offered to look into the future to see your fates.  He knew that you would run away to an orphanage, he knew that you would be abused by Takura Lireal, he knew that you would end up dating Kaiba due to bad experiences with Keith, and he knew that the fate of the world would rest on your shoulders."

"Doesn't the fate of the world rest on Yugi's shoulders though?  I mean, the spirit that shares a body with him is the former pharaoh."

"Even if he succeeds in gaining the pharaoh's power, he'll come after you, and if he gets your power, the world will be in grave danger."

I stood there, staring at the stone tablets that were perched on the wall in front of me.  It seemed so unreal that I could possibly be the one to help save the world once again.  

"Why me?  Why not Yugi or someone more able than me?" I asked.

"You're the descendant of Sheatana, who is more able to carry out her work than you?" she fired.  "You're the vessel for her power.  You could be unstoppable if you knew how to use it, but like Sheatana, the periling times will bring them forth, proving the reason for your existence."

I thought back to all that she had said.  /My father knew that I would be abused.  Why did he go?  How does that translate to caring about his daughter?  If he had cared he wouldn't have left me to that fate, but could there be a reason for that?  It's all too much to take in./     

"Isis, why did you choose Seto to carry Obelisk through Battle City?"

"Because Kaiba is the descendant of the high priest.  He was destined to carry the card.  You hate me for it, I know, but trust me when I say this: Kaiba will not let anything happen to you.  That's the reason I chose him.  He'll protect you with his life.  Obelisk was the most compassionate of the god cards."

"But he's Obelisk the Tormentor.  Isn't that a bit of an oxymoron?"

"The reason he was called the Tormentor is because of his merciless tactics against those who spited him.  The royal family was sure to keep on good terms with him.  The other cards were merciless to anyone, innocent or not.  There was nobody that could control them.  Even Sheatana had trouble with them. Yami was the only one that they wouldn't destroy, but he could never control them.  These are the cards that Marik has.  I need them back before it's too late.  Tora, this is so important.  I can't stress enough how much I need them back."

"Isis, what if Seto doesn't give Obelisk back to you?  It's not everyday that a powerful card like that is handed to him."

She burst out laughing, though I wasn't quite sure why.  She was this calm, collected woman that never let anything turn out of place.  I glared at her in detest.

"The two of you are so much alike.  He'll give it back; I have foreseen it.  You may go now, Tora, but remember what I said: stay clear of Marik"

I left the museum without a word to any of Isis's guards that I spotted on my way to the door.  I simply got on my bike, and raced back to the suite, taking in the great feeling of speed.  Derek was sill there when I arrived, and was eager to take the bike from me.  I smiled, and walked up to my apartment at the top of the west tower.

My suite was silver, black, and blue throughout the house.  I found my duffle bag unpacked, with it's contents laid out on the black wingback chair in my bedroom.  I quickly changed into my blue silk pajamas, and slid under the black covers, staring around the room a bit.  Everything was so perfect.  My life had been perfect until that day, that day when my father gave me that pendant.  Now today further complicated my already complex life.  My heavy-laden mind was growing weary from the past week and a half.  I glanced about the room one last time when I spotted a picture of Keith and I on my nightstand.  /Keith, you're mine!/

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Tornado: What did you think?

DT: You just hit the plot.  Finally, it's about time we get some real action here.  I was getting bored reading the set up shit.

Tornado: From now on, this should be more interesting since everything's into place. R&R.  


	8. A Five Card Victory

Tornado: It's me again.  This fic is either too boring or it really, really sucks.  I hope it's boring because I can change that.

DT: It is rather boring, but it's getting more interesting.  

Tornado: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh by the way, from the last chapter I own Tora, the pendant of Osiris, the Blue-eyes Black Dragon, and the Blue-eyes Mega Dragon.  If there's a monster that you've never heard of, they're mine.

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I was up before dawn the morning of the tournament.  It was three AM when that dream awoke me.  I was covered in a cold sweat, and my heart was hammering uncomfortably.  My hands were outstretched in front of clawing at the air.  It was the seventh night in a row that I had the dream.

I'm thrown onto the bed with extreme force.  The room is pitch black, but I can still see his pale face.  He grabs my wrists, pinning them high above my head as his weight bores down on me.  My legs were restrained and spread apart.  There was nothing I could do.  That same helpless feeling that I had felt many times before crept back into my heart.  There was nothing I could do.  The vicious assault began with merciless thrusts.  There was nothing I could do to stop him.  I lay there quiet, not wanting to give him another reason to make me regret even more that I was alive.  My jaw was clenched tight to prevent a scream of pain from escaping my lips.  I could taste the hurt in my mouth.  It was a coppery taste, just like blood only there was no liquid.  He finally climaxed, and rolled off of my searing body.  He licked my ear before whispering: "Now you're mine, Tornado."

That dream would drive me through the tournament.  The bitter taste of pain had never left my mouth.  This was my reason to duel.  

Dawn peaked over the rooftops of Domino, and I began to dress without thoughts.  A black leather jacket covered my red sleeveless.  Black combat boots were overlapping the legs of my baggy camouflage pants.  My lips were painted a deep red, and my eyes were shadowed and lined in black.  My Duel Disk was over one sleeve of my jacket, and my pendant was tucked underneath of the collar/choker of my leather shirt.  I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.  I was a girl that was ready for war.  My eyes were set forward in a determined glare; there was a forbidding air about me.  I tied my hair up in a ponytail to reduce the heat.  I was ready.  There was two more hours to kill before the tournament, but I knew how short the time would seem.

I strode out of the apartment, and rode the elevator to the lobby floor. It was quiet as was expected at six in the morning.  I walked into the waking streets of Domino.  A few cars were traveling to work, and a small child was already skipping rope on the sidewalk. The park lay ahead of me; it was my destination.  Four motorcycles were parked at the east entrance, and four muscular punks were leaning against them.  They looked up, and watched me approach before rising to greet me.  

"What's up, boys?" I asked.

An extremely muscular guy with a bald head wrapped me into a short hug before saying, "How you living, Blue-Eyes?"

"Life sucks sometimes, Pyro, but what can you do?"

The rest welcomed me as well.  It had been ages since I'd seen the other three.  Josh still had these wild biceps, and untidy black hair.  Matt's golden brown hair was short, giving me a clean view of his brown eyes.  Ben was still the smallest member of the group muscle wise, but his blonde hair and brown eyes made up for every bit of the muscle.

"You guys going to be tagging along with me for the tournament?" I asked.

"But of course, we couldn't let our defenseless leader out here all alone now could we?" Ben asked.

"Whatever, Ice Man.  Yo, Thunder, how's your girl?"

"Don't mention her name."

"Don't wanna know.  New wit you, Cyclone?"

"Same old, same old."

"Pyro?"

"Nothin' new here.  'Bout you?"

"Dating a great guy."

"We know him?" Pyro asked.

"You'd better know him 'cause if you didn' you'd be the stupidest person on the face of the Earth."

"Who is he?" Ben inquired.

"Tell y'all later.  Let's get walking.  If we want to get down there before the tournament starts we have to leave like now."

We set off toward the center of town, hoping to arrive before most of the crowd got there.  We stood around in the center for about ten minutes before we saw the first duelists arriving.  Mai Valentine rushed up to greet me.  

"Hey, girl, what are you doing here this early?  And who are these?" she asked noticing the band of guys that stood beside me.

"Mai, this is Vin, Matt, Ben, and Josh.  Guys this is Mai Valentine."

"Nice to meet you," the boys said in unison.

"So where's this cutie that you were talking about?" I asked.

"I don't think he's here yet, but when I find him I'll show him to you."

"You'd better.  I promised a friend that there was no cute duelists here, and I want to stay true on my word."

"You ready to duel?"

"Have I ever not been?" I retorted.

"Just checking.  With these new rules, people will have a hell of a time trying to duel."

"I have an advantage, then."

"You suck, you know that.  I tried to get acquainted with the rules before this started, but I don't know if it's perfect yet."

"I didn't get that much time to practice either, so we're on the same playing field."

"Look, I got to go.  I'll show you that cutie when I find him," she called over her shoulder.

"She was pretty," Pyro said.

"Stay away," I told him. 

"I will."

Eight o'clock soon rolled around the corner, and I waited patiently for the announcement to commence.  The boys and I were leaning against the fountain in the center square.  The plaza had become packed with duelists of all statures.  Duke Devlin was chatting with an unknown when he spotted me.

"Well, it's been a long time, Tornado.  I haven't seen you since the Duelist Kingdom tournament," he said.

"Yes, Duke, it has."

"It's a shame that you couldn't make it to the finals.  I heard they were fantastic."

"No need.  This tournament is going to make Duelist Kingdom look like a joke.  We actually have bathrooms and restaurants."

"Duelist Kingdom didn't need those.  If you came prepared it was simply a great time."

"There weren't any beds."

"How spoiled we are in life."

"Well, I hope you studied the rule book because it only complicates matters even more."

"Oh, I have, and I'll be waiting to duel you."

"How about you and me?  Right here after the announcement."

"You're on!"

"I'll put my Blue-eyes up for grabs, what about you?"

"I'll wager my Dice Phantom.  One locator card as well."

"Come on, Kaiba, when's the damned tournament going to start?" I asked the air.

"Greetings, duelists," Kaiba's voice said from the middle of nowhere. 

"Where's his voice coming from?" Duke asked.

A shadow fell across, causing me to look skyward.  A large blimp carrying the face of my boyfriend floated over the city.  The image freaked me out a bit.  For one thing he looked like he had woken up on the wrong side of the bed, and for another he was just plain excited about something.  

"I hope you didn't expect friendly competition.  Battle City is going to be an all out war."

"Damn right," I muttered.

He went on to explain how the locator cards worked.  It was all a bore to me because I had designed the damned things in the first place, but I pretended to listen anyway.  A few business people standing on the sidewalk looking rather confused.

"All this for a card game?" one asked.

/Simpletons.  It's not just a card game any more…/ 

"If anyone is stupid enough to challenge me, I'll be participating in the tournament as well.  I'm looking forward to dueling a certain person," Kaiba finished.

In my mind I could see Yugi standing on a rooftop saying, "You're on Kaiba."

"All of this and more can be found in my duel manual.  Now let the tournament begin!" he said before disappearing from the screen.

"He sure knows how to make an entrance," Ben said.

"A bit obsessive if you ask me," Josh agreed.

"Try working with him," I grumbled.  "Ready to duel, Duke?"

"You bet!" he said.

"Time to duel!" we yelled as our holographic projectors shot out to the sides.

/Damn, Seto.  These things are cool./  

"Ladies first," Duke said.

"Then by all means," I replied.

"I mean _girls_ first."

"You'll see how girly I am after this move.  I play Sheatan the dark horse [atk 600/def 1500] in attack mode."

"Oh, please, is that all you got?  I play Taurus the bull [atk 800/def 900] in attack mode.  Go Taurus, Horn of Bull!"

"Damn!" I yelled as my life points dropped.  (4000/3800) 

I drew a card.  /Hmm, not bad, it'll wipe out his bull, but I won't lay it yet./

"I lay one card face down; then I'll play the Light Magician [atk 600/ def 700] in defense mode."  /Attack it Dukie./

"I won't attack this turn, but I summon my Panther Warrior [atk 1750/ def ????] on the offense as well."

/What's he planning?  Obviously he's going to sacrifice the monsters to summon something, but what?/  "I draw."  /Nothing good, but another face down won't hurt/  "I play another card face down on the field."

"I sacrifice my two monsters on the field to summon the Dice Phantom [2400/ 2700] in attack mode!  Dice Phantom, attack the Light Magician with your Dice Roll!"

/Perfect…/  (4000/3800)  "Thanks, Duke, you played right into my hand.  First I'll summon the Shadow Ninja [1500/1800] in attack mode."

"It's not strong enough!"

"Who says I'm done yet?  Reveal magic card, Graceful Dice!  If it lands on a two or higher, your monster's done.  Let's see those odds.  1 in 6, or 16% chance that it'll and on a one." 

The dice hit the ground, and rolled over a few times.  Three dots were face up.

"Oh too, bad.  Now my monster has the attack strength of forty-five hundred, which is more than enough to clear the field of your phantom, and put significant dent in your life points.  Shadow Ninja, shadow blade!"

My ninja sliced its sword right through the opponent, sending Duke's life points from four thousand to nineteen hundred in one swipe.

"Oh, no!  I lost over half my life points.  I play the Mystical Elf [800/2000] in defense mode to protect my life points."

"Duke, did you forget my other face down card?  It was there for a reason.  Reveal trap card, Defense Paralysis!  Now your life points are wide open for my attack.  Shadow Ninja, attack with your shadow blade!  That brings your life points down to zero," I informed him triumphantly.

"How could I lose in the first match?  I'm out of the tournament now!"

"You shouldn't have dueled me first.  How many cards did it take me?  Five?  I never even had to sacrifice a monster to summon my high levels.  That was pretty pathetic.  You need a new a strategy."

"Here's my Dice Phantom and my locator card.  Take good care of it."

"It's going in a collector's case, Duke.  I have no use for it in my deck, but rest assured, it'll be locked away."

"You're a good duelist, Tornado.  I wish you luck in the tournament."

"Look on the bright side, you can go back to working on Dungeon Dice Monsters."

"Too true.  I'll be looking for you to make to the finals, or are you too girly to make it?"

"I'll be there, Duke.  You just wait and see." 

I watched as he walked away. /It was a good warm-up, but I need something more challenging.  I'm saving Seto for the finals in case he does beat me. Who can I challenge that will be a worthy opponent?/  I turned to the stunned boys behind me.  Their faces carried an expression of shock and amusement.  I had a hint of suspicion that they were planning on digging me out of a few holes.

"Do you think defenseless now?"

"I think we'll just leave.  We're cramping your style," Pyro said.

"That you are," I agreed as I hugged Pyro.  "You'll be watching me on the internet right?"

"Of course we will.  See you, girl, be careful who you challenge."

The band strolled away, leaving me alone to stand there.  I was relieved to see them go.  I hadn't really intended on having them tag along for the entire tournament.  They had planned that they would need to dig me out of my grave, but I just proved that I could rescue myself.  

I felt a hand rest on my shoulder.  I grabbed it, yanking its owner to my front.  Mai Valentine stood in front of me with a look of astonishment.

"Oh, it's you.  I thought you were someone else," I whispered sheepishly, letting go of her wrist.

"What's with you?  You treat your boyfriend like that?"

"No, but I treat my ex like that."

"Which ex?"

"Keith."

"You want to see something cute?"

"Do show!"

"This way."

She led me a few streets over to a spot where a duel had just ended.  There was a large crowd standing there commenting about the duel.  Mai and I pushed past some people until we were close enough to see two people standing in the center of the crowd.  Both of them were wearing Duel Disks.  One I recognized as the tri-colored Yugi Moto, the other was a tall blonde with muddy eyes.  He was very cute indeed, but I could place my finger on why he looked so familiar. 

"That is Joey Wheeler," she informed me dreamily.

I knew where I had seen him before.  The name had struck home too.  Joseph Wheeler the runner up at Duelist Kingdom, the owner of a Red-eyes Black Dragon, and brother to Serenity Wheeler who was currently in the hospital for an eye operation.  /I thought Seto rated him really low on the scale?  What was it like one star?  How did he get in?/

"Your boyfriend's not too fond of him," Mai told me in a hushed whisper.  "I don't think that he was supposed to be in this tournament, but I didn't ask."

"He wasn't," I replied in the same whisper.  "His resume looked good though, so I'm not going to say anything.  Let him duel. We'll see if he makes it to the finals."

"I'm not sure.  If he runs into Kaiba, who pisses him off, I don't think we'll be seeing him in the finals."

"Let's wait and see."

"We're going to have to.  I'll catch you later."

I stared at the boy for the longest time.  His face was kind, and he had a soft aura about him.  He was the kind of guy that I would have dated in an instant.  Not quite mamma's boy, but not over the edge in rawness.  Seto was like that.  Sure he had frigid exterior, but he was far from raw, or at least towards me.  I didn't know why, but there was something familiar about him.  /Of course he's Serenity's brother, but why does it seem to run deeper than that?/  I shook the feeling off, and went to find another challenger to conquer.

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Tornado: What did you think?

DT: Definitely much better.  More action!

Tornado: Thanks to Ryu no Oni, Xenocho for reviewing. 

DT: There will be more action than this in future chapters.  For the record, this is going to be a long-ass story.  R&R.    __


	9. Author's Note

Tornado: Hi people.  Look, I have to start school tomorrow, and I'm not sure how much time I'll get to write.

DT: This doesn't mean that the story is going to halt for god knows how many moths until there's a day off, the chapters just may be strung out a bit more.

Tornado: I wish I could stay off all the time to write, but I can't.  this wouldn't be so bad, except my computer doesn't have the internet, so I have to use my Dad's laptop.

DT: Which wouldn't be bad either, except he's on it all the time at night.  

Tornado: I just wanted to let you know that because I may hit a spell where there won't be something for about two weeks.  

DT: Anyone that has a problem with this, they can stick it up their ass.

Tornado: Shut the hell up, DT.


	10. The truth

Tornado: Hey people!  I know that it has been a long time since I updated, but here's the tenth chapter.

DT: We actually got three more reviews.

Tornado: Originally, I was going to go along with the TV's plot to the best of my ability, but since they put Isis in the tournament, it will be more difficult.  There will be modifications, but Isis will still be in the tournament.

DT: another thing mentioned was the pathetic name for the dragon.

Tornado: I know that the Blue-eyes Mega Dragon is not very creative, but at the time it sounded good.  

DT: Just replace the name with one of your own, or review if you have any better suggestions.

Tornado: I don't own Yugioh, so let's get on with the fic!

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After my duel with Duke, the day seemed to slow.  I wandered the streets, searching for a worthy opponent but found none.  At twelve, I took a lunch break, and sat staring off into space.  Many guys shot glances my way, though I refused to return their gazes. A few duelists were taking time out of their day to grab a bite to eat, but most of them were engaged in duels.  I watched two rather cute guys duel from my seat.  They were amateurs.  

The winner of the duel stood proudly in the center, staring around for another rival.  I paid my bill, and left quickly.  

"You there, in the camouflage and the leather, how about you duel me?" the kid called.

"I'm out of your league," I replied.  "I don't waste my time with people that I can beat in two turns."

"You're afraid to duel me!"

I spun on my heel and shot, "Mokuba Kaiba is more intimidating than you."

His face clouded with anger, but I stood my ground, waiting for his move.  

"Fine! Don't duel me, chicken!"

I smirked at him before stalking away.  The streets were bustling with duelists; so much talk was going around that I didn't know what was true.  My cell phone rang form my pocket.

"Lireal," I snapped into the receiver. 

"Tora, is that you?" a small, feminine voice asked.

"Serenity?  How the hell did you get this number?"

"Your boyfriend gave it to me."

"I should have known.  How are your eyes?"

"Bandaged, but the doctor said that I should be able to take them off in a day or two."

"You should be able to watch the finals then."

"Yeah.  Do you have any idea what's wrong with Seto?"

"What do you mean?"

"He seemed withdrawn this morning.  Mokuba did most of the talking."

"No clue, he was fine yesterday."

"Well, that was yesterday."

"He was probably just making sure that his old self was still intact.  Don't worry too much about it."

"Well, it was good talking to you again.  You'll have to visit me before I get out."

"We'll see what my schedule allows.  Good-bye, Serenity."

"Bye!"

The line went dead.  It was not unusual for Seto to be withdrawn, but with the occurrences that had already taken place, I knew that there had to be two sides to the story.  

Suddenly a pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist.  I struggled against my assailant's grasp to no avail.  The muscle-laden limbs were fastened there, leaving me helpless.

"Hey, baby," a deep voice whispered.

I closed my eyes, and prayed that I was dreaming.  "Keith?"

"Who else.  I've come to reclaim what should have been mine a long time ago."

"It was never yours," I shot.

"That's where you're wrong, it was always mine."

He licked my neck causing me to squirm even harder.  He laughed before suckling on my neck.  I felt his erection growing behind me. /Somebody! Anybody! HELP ME!/  It was no use.  I was doomed to the actions that would be bestowed upon me.  

"She always this way?" a different voice asked.

"Yeah," Keith answered, taking a breath.  "She was.  You guys can have a piece of her when I'm done."

Panic flared inside of me.  I refused to be raped again.  I seized his arm, which had worked its way around my neck, and jerked forward with all my might.  Keith rolled over me, falling to the ground.   He sprung up, but I dodged him.  This time two sets of arms clamped around me.  /Damn him for traveling in a group!/  

"We'll take our time with you now," one of them whispered.

Suddenly, I felt a power rise inside of me.  I closed my eyes and focused all of the energy into my muscles.  I flung my forward, sending my two unknown assailants into Keith.  They were rising to fight again, and then I lost control.  Somehow a sphere of black formed in my hand, and was sent in their direction.  The last thing I remember was hearing a crashing sound because after that, I fainted.

I felt a warm cloth being laid on my head, and my eyes shot wide open.  I was lying in my room at the hotel.  Two maids were standing over me, looking rather concerned. I took in my surroundings to see if I was alone.  There was no one else.

"How did get here?" I asked weakly.

"Mister Rinehart brought you back miss," the blonde maid answered.  "He said that you were laying in an alleyway."

It all came back to me.  /My god, my head hurts like hell./

"Could you leave please.  I have a splitting headache, and I'd like to get some rest."

The two nurses nodded before leaving.  I sat there for a few minutes in complete silence.  /What was that power that came over me?  It was almost like it took control.  What the fuck could that have been?/  A knock came.

"Who is it?" I asked, knowing that if it had been Seto he would have barged right in.

The door creaked open a bit to reveal the blonde Matt Rinehart. "I came to check on you.  May I come in?"

I waved to the couch that was in front of me as I sat up on the sofa. He casually took the seat as though he had done it a million times before.  I twiddled with my hair a bit before he spoke, "What were you doing in that alleyway?"

"It's a long story," I said heavily.

"You can tell me, I'm sure I've heard it all before."

"You've never heard a story like this."

"Try me."

"Alright, a little less than six months ago I dated a guy named Keith, Bandit Keith."

"You what?!"

"Yeah I know.  Actually I think that I was high or drunk when I agreed to date him, but that doesn't matter.  The point is that I dated him.  Anyway, the first few weeks were fine.  He was about as nice as I could have expected him to be, but deep down, I knew that all he could do was hurt me.  I ignored this feeling, and went on with my life.  That was my first mistake.

"A month after we started dating, he began to be more forceful with his sexual implements.  I shrugged this off, figuring that he was getting frustrated because I wasn't "turning out".  That was my second mistake.

"Two weeks later, we went out to a party, and we had a blast.  I had a drink or two, and I noticed that Keith hadn't drunk anything.  That raised my suspicions, but I was having too much fun to really care.  Anyway, he offered to allow me to spend that night at his house.  The alcohol was clouding my vision, so I said yes.  That was my final mistake. 

"He took me to his house, but this wasn't a friendly stay.  He forced me to sleep with him, and now he won't let it go, even now that we're broken up."

"So he raped you?"

"Yes," I answered.

"What!" a strong voice demanded from the doorway.

Both of us spun to see Seto Kaiba standing in the doorway glaring at me infuriately.  "Please tell me that the story you just told was indeed a story."

I closed my mouth, which had apparently fallen open in my shock, and stared at the floor.  I heard his breathing become softer, but his footsteps never commenced.  Matt got up, and walked out the door without saying good-bye, but I knew that Seto hadn't taken notice that he was there.  The door closed softly, and he strode over to the sofa.  He hesitated before taking a seat beside me, and wrapping his arms around my body.  There was a familiar dampness to his face that I felt when he buried it in my shoulder.  He sat there holding me tight like he would never let go.  I felt tears well up in my eyes, but I forced them down.  Abruptly, he pushed me away, but it was so gentle.    He stared at my face as his hand caressed my cheek.  

"Why didn't you tell me," he whispered.

"I didn't want you to know."

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"No.  I have to fight this battle on my own."

His gaze flickered to the floor as he sighed heavily.  He gave me one last hug before leaving me to my thoughts.  I gazed off into space allowing my weary eyes to grow heavy.  Soon I passed out, landing softly on the couch.

The second day was my day to really get down to work.  I awoke at dawn, and began to prepare for my harsh day.  My goal: crush Keith in a humiliating duel.  I was set in revenge. I dressed in a black leather sleeveless that was designed just like the red one that I had worn the day before.  My black baggy pants had combat boots underneath of them.  Instead of throwing on a jacket, I pulled on black gloves with the fingers cut out of them.  They ran up the length of my arm, stopping mid-bicep.  I put on my black eyeliner and eye shadow before strolling out the door. 

Main Street was already crowded with duelists.  I passed many that I normally would have challenged in an instant, but I was set in my resolve.  I glared at anyone who dared to look my way, shielding myself from all unwanted attention.

"Tornado!  Tornado! Wait up!"

I stopped upon hearing Matthew Rinehart's voice.  He caught up to panting slightly.

"What o you want?" I asked harshly.

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to duel me?" he replied, shrugging off my bitterness.

"Sorry for my cruelty, I'm not myself today."

"That's understandable.  After what happened to you yesterday I can understand."

"I'll duel you.  We duel for two locator cards. Deal?"

"Deal.  Time to Duel!"

The holographic projectors shot out to the sides, providing me with a temporary distraction.  /Damn those are cool!/  I checked my life points to find that they  were set at 4000.  Matt seemed to prepare himself while I waited impatiently.

"Are you going to move or what?"

"I play the Mystical Elf [800/2000] in attack mode."

"Is that the best you got?  I play Battle Ox [1700/1000] in attack mode.  Battle Ox attack his Mystical Elf!"

The half human/ox slashed through the pristine blue woman on the opposite side of the field causing his life points to drop to 3100. 

"Shame your elf couldn't have stayed with us longer.  I would have loved to ask her who did her hair," I replied sarcastically.

"I didn't think that punks asked for beauty tips, but let's continue."

Our battle waged on for about twenty minutes.  Matt was no match for my Battle Ox after I added a graceful dice to his attack strength.  Matt accepted his defeat with ease, and handed over his locator cards without hesitation.  I declined his offer to give me his rarest card, allowing a bit of my persuasive side to come out. 

We were chatting quietly when footsteps caught our attention.  They were light and airy, like a dancers steps.  I felt an energy being radiated from the direction of the steps.

"What is it Isis?" I asked.

"I must speak with you about something.  Please forgive my intrusion." 

"Forgiven.  Now what is this thing that you must speak to me about?"

"Tornado, Marik is closer than I originally thought to acquiring all three Egyptian gods and the Millennium puzzle.  We must ensure that he does not obtain your pendant as well."

"Isis, I thought that we had gone through this.  The pendant is safe with me at the moment, and I plan not to separate with it any time in the near future."

"That will not matter.  If Marik controls the pendant as well as the pharaoh's power, there's no telling what he could accomplish."

I was about to answer when three cloaked figures approached us.  Isis seemed to draw me closer to her, shielding me from the men.  They stood, keeping us encircled.

"Where is the pendant of Osiris?" the tallest one asked.

"We'll never give it to you, so you can tell my brother that if he wants it, he can come and get it," Isis declared.

"oh, I think that you'll give it over easier than you think."

"Tornado, run!" Isis yelled.

I took off between the gap that the two other goons had left, and ran for my life.  I could hear their footsteps behind me, which only caused me to run faster.  Finally, I saw the Kaiba Corps building up ahead, and darted inside.  I was panting heavily as I leaned against the wall.  That was when I knew.  I had to get rid of my pendant.

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Tornado: again sorry for the gap between chapters.  I ran out of ideas and I started school.

DT: This may actually turn out to have a plot.

Tornado: I told you, it takes three million years to get to the action.  R&R.


	11. Pride

Tornado: Hiya peeps!!  I got one review last chapter, so there isn't much to say.

DT: Then let's stop yapping and get on with the stupid fic.

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I jogged down he long corridor.  The hall was a bleak shade of taupe that contrasted the white floors.   A small boy came bounding down the opposite way.  I shouted to him.

"Mokuba!"

"Tora, what are you doing here?" he asked, stopping in front of me.

"I need to find your brother, pronto."

"He's in the communication center.  We lost track of Yugi's duel disk signal."

My heart stopped.  They couldn't have found him already.  I sprinted down the hallway.  /Isis, we may have already failed./  

The door to the communications room opened upon my request.  Unlike the other rooms of the headquarters, this on was lined with technology.  About ten workers were at the various computers typing and talking into the headsets.  In the middle of the floor stood a handsome young man with his fingers resting on the bridge of his nose.

"Sir, we still cannot locate Yugi Moto's duel disk," a grey haired man informed the boy.

"Well you'd better start trying other possibilities and find him!"

The man darted back into his seat commencing in a feverish typing.  I felt the tension surge through my system the same way a virus would charge through a computer.  The brunette boy began pacing occasionally making a sound of frustration.  I slinked into the shadows, watching each one with curiosity.

"Check all the programs that are compatible with Kaiba Corps duel disks," he suddenly snapped.

This time the typing became unison as ten people typed random things.  Soon a map appeared with red dots sprawled across it.

"Narrow it down to all of the programs not letting us in."

One red dot now blinked on the screen.  I grabbed a chair at an empty computer, and began running through the same drill that I had been trained to do.  I found the backdoor and disarmed all of their security while Seto barked the location to Mokuba on the other end of the radio.  Within a few seconds, I was searching the databases for any duel that was taking place.  My extra efforts paid off when Yugi's name popped up along with one that I had never heard of.  A hand settled upon my shoulder as I watched the battle in boredom.

"I see I have taught you well," a voice whispered.

"This is better than anything that I learn in school," I replied.

"What are you doing here?"

"Can we talk in private?"

He grabbed my arm and yanked me into the hallway.  I led the way to the conference room, and sat on the long mahogany table.  Seto sat next to me allowing his head to fall on my shoulder.  It had been a long day for him.

"What's wrong?"

"I need you to take this," I replied, unsnapping the chain around my neck.

I placed the pendant in the palm of my hand, and held it out to him.  He gently took it before his eyes went wide.

"Tora, I can't take this," he whispered.

"You have to.  You'll keep it safer than I will."

"Why does it have to be protected?"

"There are a lot of bad men after it.  I don't have time to explain, but they will never know that you have it.  Promise me you'll take good care of it."

"I will, I promise."

I left before he could say another word, and set off in search of my next challenger.  My primary goal was to take Bandit Keith out of the tournament.  As I walked out of Kaiba Corps a strange sight awaited me.

"I thought I'd find you here," Isis said.

"What are you doing here?" I asked the woman.

"It is too dangerous for you compete any longer, I must insist that you drop out of the tournament."

"No way! I worked hard to get where I am, and I'm stopping now!"

"Tora, pocket your pride a moment.  This is not about you this is about the world.  if you can't do this, I don't know how you can wield the pendant."

"I gave the pendant to Seto."

"That is the safest place for it, with the dragons.  Tora, I cannot make this choice for you, but I believe that two on our side is enough competing in the tournament."

"You compete for me."

"What?"

"Instead of me competing you take my place.  It's better to have three heads than two."

"You are truly unique Tora.  The world is in good hands."

I removed my duel disk and handed it to her.  She reluctantly accepted it with a bow before turning on her heel.  That was that, I was out of the competition.

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Tornado: So what did you think?

DT: It is falling into a boring streak again.

Tornado: I know, and the chapters are a bit short, but I need to give them the appropriate effect.

DT: Whatever.  Anyway R&R.


	12. Welcome to the finals

Tornado: Hiya peeps!  This story is now back by popular demand!  YEAH!  You like my story! Sorry it's been so long since I last posted.  School has been demanding.

DT: Thankies to all of the reviewers from last chapter (especially Sakura Li Samuri who kept telling me to update.)  Now, on with the fic.

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I sat on the rooftop of my hangout watching the bloody sunset.  I had long since lost track of time.  The boys were in the corner, playing some sort of poker.  Occasionally, I heard an invitation for me to join, but I always declined.  

Isis was now in the tournament in my stead.  It was a relief on my part.  Now, the fate of the world depended on Yugi and Seto, not me.  Yet something bugged me.  There was a feeling bouncing around in the pit of my stomach, trying to grab my attention.  I feared that it was destiny's call, telling me that my duty had not been fulfilled.  

A strong hand latched onto my shoulder.  

"Aren't you gonna join us?" Pyro said.   "We're playin Pia Gow Poker."

"No thanks, Pyro.  I'm not in the mood for games."

"May I join you then?"

I nodded. He lowered himself beside me.  I could smell the smoke that his cigarette produced.  It tickled my nose causing me to cough.  He sighed before extinguishing it.  We sat in silence, neither knowing what to say. 

"I have a feeling that the worst is yet to come," I whispered.

"The worst of what?"

"You don't know anything.  I know you don't because I never told you or anyone.  During Battle City, I was one of the reasons it was taking place.  You're not a duelist so the events are hard to explain.  Basically, there is this group that tries to steal rare Duel Monsters cards and they sell them on the black market, but they keep the rarest ones for themselves.  They call themselves Rare Hunters; don't ask me why.  Anyway, the whole reason Battle City took place was to lure them here.  Somehow, Dragon came to possess one of three of the most powerful cards in Duel Monsters, and he wanted to complete his set.  So that's a basic outline."

"Doesn't he have all three though?  He has all three Blue Eyes White Dragons."

"These cards are stronger than his dragons' power combined.  There is no way to word the power that the cards possess unless you are there when one is summoned. If they enter the wrong hands, the world is doomed."  
"How can a Duel Monster _card_ destroy the world?"

I sighed deeply. "This is like trying to explain it to Seto."

"I don't understand that.  Please clarify how that is possible!"

"Duel Monsters is an ancient game that was played by the Egyptians, but they used real monsters to duel.  They summoned them from the Shadow Realm."

"What the bloody hell is the Shadow Realm?"

"Forget it.  I should have known that you wouldn't understand," I snapped before turning away.

He simply rose and returned to the game.  I watched the sun as it reflected on the water.  I remembered the days when Seto and I sat up here.  Those days were long gone.  My cell phone rang from my pocket.  I extracted it carefully before braking: "Lireal."

"Twist, it's me.  We're ready to get moving.  Where are you?" a male voice asked.

"Top of the tower.  Where are you?"

"About a minute away.  Meet you at the door," he said fore hanging up.

"Sorry, boys, duty calls," I yelled as I thundered down the steps. 

The minute I stepped outside, I felt something latch onto my waist.

I looked down to see Mokuba holding onto me like I was dying or something.  Seto was standing in front, shaking his head slightly.  I smiled at him, but his distraught face did not return it.

"Mokuba let her breathe.  We have to get going," he stated.

"Sorry," the boy replied releasing my body.  "Are you doing okay, Tora?  Do you have six locator cards?"

I shook my head.  "We can take care of that," I heard Seto say.

"No, I mean I'm out."

"Of the tournament?  Christ, how many times did you have to lose to do that?"

"I only lost once, but that doesn't matter.  The girl owed me a favor, so I kept my card.  Look I thought you said we had to go?  Why don't we take the bikes?  They'll be quicker than walking."

He nodded, looking toward the six cycles sitting in front of the building.  They were all racing bikes, made to fly.  I mounted mine as him and Mokuba slid onto a silver and blue one.  I pulled out first, and Seto followed closely.  We both weaved in, out, and around each other.  it was simple stuff. 

The arena towered before us, and we sped through the small opening.  The workers stopped and stared as we halted the bikes.  Most of them shook their heads and went back to work.  Two of them push our vehicles to another section, and one came to update us on the progress.

"Kaiba craft 3 is circling.  It is ready to land whenever you need it," he said.

"Thank you, Roland.  Contact me if anything changes.  I'll be at the headquarters," I informed him.

"Right, Ms. Lireal.  Mr. Kaiba, is there anything else you need for right now?"

"No, that will be all."

Roland moved away from us, and I gazed at the rest of the workers.  I wished I could have joined them, but I had no locator cards.  I didn't belong.  

"I don't care where you think you are going," Seto started.  "You are coming on that blimp if I have to drag you there."

"I don't have any locator cards.  I shouldn't be on the blimp."

"I need you to help me keep the finals organized.  What good can you do at the headquarters?"

"There I can at least manage the satellites."

"We don't need them any more, you ding-dong.  That was only for actual tournament.  The only place that I could really use you is at Kaiba Corp island, but to get there, you need to take the blimp."

I stared at him with an annoyed expression.  He was going to do whatever it took to get me on that damned blimp.  I hated blimps.  They weren't as fast as planes.  His face never changed as he gazed into my eyes.  A superior smile crept on his face.  I almost raised my hand to smack it off.  Instead, I stuck my tongue out at him and walked away.

I observed him as he spoke with Mokuba.  Something reached my ears.  It was an undistinguishable sound, but it sounded like it came form the stadium.  Seto must've heard it as well because he ordered all of the lights to be turned on.  My eyes scanned the rows searching for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Nothing.  Just the empty seats.  Something churned inside of me. It felt like someone was laughing at me as I desperately searched for the producer of that sound.  

I noticed a group of people walking through the entrance of the stadium. I knew almost all of them.  Serenity's face was the easiest to find and Mai's the next.  Neither of the girls saw me hiding in the shadowy corner. 

Shortly after the group arrived, a blonde haired boy entered.  There was something familiar about him, but I could not place my finger on it.  My thoughts were interrupted when a silver haired teen trudged through the entrance.  The group rushed over to him, and made a fuss.  The last person to arrive was a dark skinned man in a flowing black cape.  There were hieroglyphics on the side of his face.  My eyes stayed trained on him for several moments.  I rose from my seat, and stalked towards the groups.  I stopped five feet away from Seto.

"State your name right now!' he demanded.

"I am Marik."

The words shot through my brain like a bullet.  My brows furrowed, and my mouth gapped.  /This can't be Marik.  He looks nothing like Isis!  I cannot feel that mystical energy that the Millennium Items radiate./  The group was also shocked by his words.  I had the urge to yell in protest, but I stifled it through clenched jaws.

Serenity noticed me for the first time.  My glare told her not to say anything, and she gave a slight nod.  /Note to self: figure out who the hell that ass claiming to be Marik is./ I continued to stare at "Marik".  There was just no way it could be him.  

Everyone's eyes turned to the large blimp that was closing in on the stadium.  Mouths dropped open and awes filled the air.  Seto and I stood silently still staring at the latest arrival.  I shot a glance Seto's way.  A look of hatred was embedded on his face.  I didn't know why.  /What grudge do you have against him, Seto?/

"We're dueling in the sky!" someone exclaimed.

"Yep, everyone board Kaiba craft 3!" Mokuba shouted.

The blimp landed, and the boarding stairs dropped.  Two guards were standing on both sides of the ramp.  I walked right through without any trouble.  The blimp was nicely furnished.  It was made to look rich.  I found my room with ease, qnd I began searching for something to drink.  The fridge was filled with an assortment of drinks such as bottled water, soda, and, to my surprise, a few bottles of hard lemonade.  I smiled to myself as I grabbed a soda.  /That lemonade won't last past midnight./ 

I saw a note lying on the table.  I inspected it carefully and read aloud, "Miss Lireal, under the request of Mr. Kaiba, there is an outfit waiting in the closet.  We hope you will find our selection suitable."  /Great.  He probably has me wearing a suit.  Worst comes to worst, I can always snag his coat./

I opened the closet doors to discover a pair of black leather pants and a jacket.  /This isn't so bad.  I guess I'm supposed to use my own shirt./  I dressed quickly went out to join the guests.  I found them on the bridge admiring the view.  

"It's so beautiful up here," I heard Serenity say.

"You really need to fly more often," I answered.

"A week ago, it wouldn't have mattered how many times I'd flown, but you know that, Tora."

"Yes, but come on.  It's just Domino.  Nothing special," I replied walking to her side.

"Maybe not to you, but it is to me."

She turned to me.  Her eyes surveyed my body with vague interest.  She smiled gently as she picked at the material of my jacket.

"What happened to the gloves and the baggy pants?  Didn't you like the outfit?"

"Boss's orders.  I'm just surprised that he didn't stick me in a suit."

"He knew you'd steal his coat."

"Probably.  Hey, Mai.  I haven't seen you since the first day of the tournament."

"That was only yesterday, Tora.  What happened to you?  I didn't see your name anywhere after we split."

"I got taken out kinda early today."

"Taken out by who?"

"You wouldn't know her."

"Miss Lireal," a masculine voice said.  "Mr. Kaiba would like to see you."

"Fine.  Tell him I'll be there in a minute."

"Yes, ma'am," he answered before turning away.

"Well, his highness is calling.  I must be off."

 A chorus of goodbyes sounded.  I walked through the hallways, realizing that the idiot never told me where Seto was.  I kept taking guesses.  I walked into the piloting area, pretending that I was checking on things.  Having no luck there, I continued to stroll through the halls.  A strong hand landed on my shoulder.

"Where have you been?  I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Likewise," I said as I faced him.  "Roland never told me where you were."

"Stupid idiot.  Come on, I'll show you what I need you to do," Seto said.

I nodded as I followed him down the corridor. 

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Tornado: Well there's chapter 12.  R&R.


	13. The Death of the Unexpected

Tornado: Hiya peeps! Sorry it's been so long since I last updated, but thanx to all the people who reviewed, and now on with the fic.

The first duel was well on its way as I sat at the computer typing away. I got the honored task of searching through data file after data file of information searching for anything that Pegasus had on the Winged Dragon of Ra. What sucked was all of the file names had absolutely nothing to do with what they contained. I was longing for a search bar right about now. It had taken me about fifteen minutes to hack into Industrial Illusions mainframe. Security sure had become a forgotten issue with the questionable health of the CEO. Locating the archive of all 990,966 files took another ten minutes, which included cracking the password.

I was on file 321, when something caught my eye. The next file seemed to be missing. I shook my head and read down the list once again. File 319, File 320, File 321, File 323. I quickly minimized the window and decided that this would be the one time that I would go dumpster diving. I quickly opened up the recycle bin, typing in "File 322" in the search bar, coming up with no hits. I dug a little deeper. Things that are thrown in the recycle bin, aren't as erased you thought they were. I started to work my magic by overriding the program, pulling up a list of all of the files that had ever been deleted from that server. I scanned the rows before I came to an entry the day of the Duelist Kingdom tournament started. File 322: The Unspeakable Terror. I quickly did a search of any place the file had been sent. It seems that, on the same day as its destruction on this server, Maximillion Pegasus sent the file to his personal laptop. I paused wondering what was so dangerous in this file. _Curiosity killed the cat,_ my mind warned. _But the last time I checked, I was a human,_ my devilish side reasoned. After a few types the file began to reconstruct itself. My heart was thumping rather hard for a hacking job. It was soon done. I swallowed as I opened the file. It was a log of an archeological dig, funded by Pegasus. I read each entry. All of the beginning entries were complaints about the seemingly snail movements of the workers excavating the area. I finally hit an entry that contained something other than the rants and raves of a madman.

_Day 36_

_We finally hit the palace! We were beginning to fear that the map left in the tomb of Pharaoh Yami Atem, who reigned during the perilous time when the shadow monsters roamed the world, was incorrect. I am assured that it should only be a week until we fully unveil it._

_Day 37_

_The top balcony of the palace has been exposed. Oh the wealth that these people held! The carvings are still in perfect condition. Shadi says that we are well ahead of schedule. Many of the local village people have volunteered to assist us in our digging._

_Day 45_

_I have not entered the events of the previous days because there was no more to report. We have finally uncovered the entire palace and should be able to explore it within a week._

I scanned the entries, quickly losing myself in the event. Something called to me, urging me to read on.

Day 52 

_Finally! The day arrived. We were able to venture into the corridors of the palace. Shadi guided us through the narrow passageways, all leading in many different directions. The wealth and craftsmanship displayed in these halls is inescapable. Shadi explained the history of the palace. The battle, which decided the fate of mankind, took place here. Two adversaries, Pharaoh Yami Atem and High Priest Seth, battled for the throne and the companionship of Princess Sheatana, sister of the pharaoh. High Priest Seth emerged as the victor, but only with the help of the princess. Instead of claiming the throne, the princess and the priest bid each other good-bye, and went their separate ways. Three months after the battle, another one arose from the sand, and this time, it was the high priest who came to the aid of the pharaoh. He offered only one "weapon" to assist, and it is because of that weapon that the royal family was victorious. There were casualties. Among them was Princess, who was buried in a tomb with no marker that was guarded by the great Sphinx. The pharaoh and the priest made an agreement that they would conceal the final resting place of their beloved, but only those who knew the location of their tombs could find the tomb of the princess. After both the pharaoh and the priest had passed on, the desert swallowed the palace; its location lost forever. I do not know what the meaning of the story is, for no one recorded the resting place High Priest Seth. _

_Shadi informed me that tomorrow he would take me to the very arena that these battles waged in. He said, "Be warned, there are terrors that are beyond your wildest imagination lying undisturbed for 5,000 years, and one false move could awaken them, causing terror to rule the world once again." What rubbish!! Hocus Pocus stuff frightens me not! I believe he is simply trying to deter me from finding and harnessing the power that once was contained within the palace, for it is said that the spirits of Yami Atem, High Priest Seth, Princess Sheatana, and other unknown contributors to the conflicts still call the palace their home to this day. Perhaps, the same magic that has preserved the souls of these people can help me to bring my Cecilia back to me…_

_Day 53_

_I could not describe in words what I saw today. The wonders that lie within those chambers are unbelievable. I have discovered the Shadow Gods, the Gods of the shadow monsters. I have captured their beauty on film and will create cards to complete my line of cards. Yet, one thing still bothers me: I am still no closer to finding a way to bring Cecilia back. I asked Shadi about the spirits that were trapped here, but he simply shook it off. I feel that he is hiding something from me. I am leaving Egypt and returning to America, but I am funding another dig to hopefully discover the tomb of High Priest Seth and hopefully then Princess Sheatana, who was legendary for her magical powers. Perhaps now here is something in her tomb that will assist me…_

The log ended. The legend. It was just as Isis had said, but she must have conveniently left out the part about the second part. The one that contained **_my death_**!! Wonder what provoked that little slip up. I stared at the computer, suddenly realizing that there was more to the file. I quickly stretched and continued to read.

I have made a terrible mistake. When I first set out on my search of the palace of the Atem dynasty, I was hoping to find and harness the power that the royal family held and perhaps to find the only power that they feared, which was described vividly among the ancient Egyptian legends, but what I found was destruction and hell. I have made the Egyptian gods part of my card collection, but at a terrible price. All those that witnessed the raw power of the palace and the stone carving of the gods, have all been destroyed by some unknown power. They came to me as well, and I was not strong enough to control them. I fear the power that they wield and the damage they have the ability to inflict. I have now entrusted the gods to Isis Ishtar, who promised me that she would hide them in the most secret of places, away from those who may wish to abuse their power, but now two of the cards have been stolen. I fear for the safety of mankind. If they fall into the wrong hands, the world will no longer be a place that will contain paradises. Why am I writing this down? I wonder that myself. I am recording this information so that anyone who is desperate enough to find the gods may have some sort of warning that these are not harmless cards. Within the card is a power that no one can describe, so powerful that a bearer of the millennium items cannot control. I only hope that anyone reading this will heed the warning. These are not things that should be messed with. Please, for the fate of the world, do not to control these ancient beings.

Maximillion Pegasus

I could not believe the words that I had just read. Pegasus actually wrote a document, which he deleted purposely to catch the attention of anyone who wanted to find the gods, for the sole purpose to warn said seekers of the events that occurred in his search. And yet, as unbelievable as it had sounded when I first started, the pieces were beginning to fall into place. Destiny had much more than I had imagined. I was to die, just as my previous personality had. _Thank you for the warning, Isis!!_

I sat there, chewing my lip lightly as I debated. Should I confront the Egyptian, or should I not? Making up my mind, I rose from the chair and exited the massive computer room, but not before I began downloading the profiles of all the Egyptian god cards, just as I had been required, as well as the mysterious note that Pegasus had left. I knew where Isis's room was but how I did not know. My conscious faded and instinct began to reign. I was lost in thought, my mind reciting the words that I had just read, still not comprehending the data and personal insight that was presented. My body slammed into another's, and as I looked up from the ground, my eyes coming back into focus, I was face-to-face with the very soul I had set out to confront.

"I knew you were coming to see me. I foresaw it. You are very good with a computer," a soft voice assured.

"Tell me, who is it that murdered my pre-incarnation?" I replied in a hollow tone.

"Come with me and I will explain everything."

"I trusted you once, Isis and so far you have betrayed me twice. Is there anything else that you have in store for my family and I?"

"Which family do you mean? Your friend and his brother, or your brother and your grandfather?"

"Any of my family, including my friends and the friends of Yugi."

"Very well, please come inside," she answered stepping aside to reveal a very familiar setting. Her room was decorated just as Seto and mine was: simple but elegant with many views of the passing scenery. Isis took her seat in a chair located directly across from a large sofa. I collapsed onto the sofa, allowing my tired body to rest from the long day. She stared at me with those shocking turquoise eyes, surveying my mind.

"Yes, I conveniently forgot to tell you that Sheatana died during the previous battle, and I have not even mentioned the second battle that took place in that dark time. There are so many things that I needed to tell you that I prioritized everything, insuring that you would no the full events of the past."

"Oh, I see. My death just didn't make the top ten of importance!"

"That I didn't tell you because I needed you to help me. Had you known, would you have helped me?"

"No! I would have told you to go to hell and continued with my life just as it used to be. Ever since this tournament started, my life has been put on hold, flipped upside-down, and toyed with, so if you have anything to say that will make me change my mind about continuing to help you, I would love to know."

"You asked me earlier who murdered Sheatana. The significance of her death is not who killed her but rather why he killed her. Once Seth was banished from the palace, Yami took his millennium item, the millennium rod. The new high priest that took reign after Seth also was working for him. He gave up everything that he had to assist the former priest for the promise of the greatest power of all. That new priest was named Malik. When Seth refused to take the throne with Sheatana, Malik became infuriated. He had presented his true colors, and was now also banished from the palace. So he decided that he was going to attempt to overthrow the pharaoh and princess. He, with the help of a tomb robber, was able to steal back the Sennan Rod, which is what they called it back then, present a challenge for the pharaoh.

"Seth, being in debt to Yami for not beheading him on the spot, offered but one weapon to the royal family, and even to this day, what he gave them is unknown. During the battle between Malik and Yami, Sheatana and Seth were standing on the sidelines. One was poised to help the pharaoh if he was in need of it, the other to defend her if she happened to fall. There was one point where Yami was so close to defeat that he actually fell to the ground in exhaustion. Sheatana rushed to aid her brother but left Seth wide open for an attack. Malik, wanting to reap revenge against the former priest, took the golden opportunity to take a shot at him. Sheatana, however, was one step ahead of him. She managed to push Seth to safety but was unable to reach that same safety herself. She was struck with the magic and fell to the ground. Seth rushed to her side as she waited for the shadows to take control of her body. She promised him that, one day, they would meet again and be able to spend an eternity together. He held her as she was overcome by the shadows, but though her mortal life was ended, she did not die. Her soul passed on into the Pendant of Osiris where she waits for her and her lover to be reunited. Yami, driven by grief of his sister's death, was able to defeat Malik and reclaim the throne.

"The empire mourned the loss of the great princess for a long time and often questioned the pharaoh of her burial place and of the reason she was taken to the afterlife. He always replied, 'She lies in an unmarked grave. The great Sphinx guards the entrance, and six unspeakable creatures, who all mourned her loss, watch her tomb. Her magic lies within it, unable to be set free without the consent of Osiris, and the only way that you can find her grave is to know the graves of both her lover and I, and seeing how we are not dead, you shall never know.'"

"How does this tie in with my pendant? You said before that the whole reason that Marik searched for the gods was to gain the pendant."

"Don't you see? The pendant holds the soul of the princess. The magic that she possessed can only be set free by that pendant, and only that will allow Malik to rule the world. Malik knows where her tomb is, but the only way that he can safely pass is to wield the pendant. That's the reason that Malik wants it."

"Why do you keep saying Malik? Isn't your brother's name Marik? He is the one that wants the pendant."

"Marik is being controlled by his pre-incarnation. Malik is seeking revenge in another life by taking shelter in Marik's body. It was said that Malik sealed his soul in the Sennan Rod before the pharaoh defeated him, and when Marik first touched that item, he was infused with Malik's soul."

"All of this sounds a little far fetched to me, but since I have no idea what to believe anymore, I'm just going to go with it. So, let me get this story line straight. The high priest and the princess were lovers, so the pharaoh banished the priest from the palace because he was afraid that they would overthrow him, but in the end it was a stupid thing to do because the priest, pissed off to hell because he can't see his lover, plots a revenge to overthrow the pharaoh anyway and would have succeeded had he no been a nice guy and let the pharaoh keep the throne. That all worked out to a happy ending except for the fact that the priest screwed over the high priest that took over for him, who got really pissed off and battled the pharaoh trying to overthrow him. In the process he managed to kill the princess, and the pharaoh beat him. In the end the princess died; her gravestone had this whole set of booby-traps guarding her, and the palace was swallowed by the desert."

"Precisely."

"Ah, okay. So now what happens? What am I destined to do?"

"I can't simply tell you the way your life is supposed to fall out; that would defeat the purpose, but I can guide you. My suggestion to you is to further explore Pegasus's dig in Egypt. I think you will find it rather interesting."

"I think that I've had enough of ancient pharaohs, monsters, and legends for one night. If you don't mind I think that I will retire to observing the on-going duels," I lied through my teeth, coming up with any excuse I could find to escape the gravity that Isis created.

"Before you leave, there is something that I must warn you about. There is yet another legend regarding the death of Sheatana, but that I will tell you about later. The most important thing that I can think of saying is that your grandfather was employed under Pegasus during the time he spent digging in Egypt, which is where he met professor Hawkins If you remember correctly."

"What was my grandfather doing working for Pegasus?"

"He was asked to shed his knowledge of Egypt with the rest of the excavating crew. Not many of them knew anything about their ancient homeland."

I said nothing else as I slipped back through the door. My head was spinning and pounding from exertion. So many things didn't make sense. I retreated to the computer room. The information Pegasus had gathered about the gods was long since finished loading. I carefully examined each profile, hoping, I guess, that something in them would make all of this information fall into place and make sense. I worked for an unknown period of time before I reduced myself to simply staring at them, much in the way that a mindless student stares at a pop-quiz that he was far from prepared for. The drummer beat harder on my head, and the bullet's speed was increased by some unknown force, causing it to ricochet off the walls of my skull faster than ever before.

When these things faded away I will never know, but the next moment I was engulfed in a state of euphoria. Visions of ancient pyramids materialized in front of me. The warm air danced across my face, attacking it with fine grains of sand. There, in the midst of the scorching breath of the almighty dragon, stood a girl crowned in jewels, which no peasant could afford. Her long black hair waved in a banner-like fashion; eyes shining like sapphires. A tall man came to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. The familiarity vexed me. IT was like I had stared into his eyes many times before. I observed the couple as they held each other close before I felt a new sensation. Something soft was creeping along my neck, leaving a trail of sweet feelings. I gently smiled before the warmth of the desert turned into the frigid arctic air.

I shot up as the ice hit my skin, eyes wide and alert. The computer screen lay in front of me with the screensaver playing. A small chuckle got my attention, and I turned behind me to Seto standing there with a countenance of pure amusement. I glared at him, failing to realize that he had not only been kissing my neck but had brought me something as well.

"I thought you were going to be dead to the world forever. You had me a little worried when you didn't wake up on my first attempt. Here, I brought you something," he stated, extending the bottle to me.

I took the glacial-temperature drink in confusion. I turned the label face to find my saviors name on it. The cap seemed to disappear as my hand desperately cleared the top and took a greedy "sip" of it. It was limeade rather than lemonade that I had spied in my fridge, my preference and favorite. A contented sigh gushed across my lips as I leaned back in the chair.

"You could get in trouble for this though. Distributing alcohol to under-aged drinkers," I teased.

"Whose going to tell? Besides, if we have any officers on the arresting team that worked the scene on your murder case, they'll know what happens when you have no way to calm your self."

"Seto," I warned.

"I know, low blow. I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter any more. Past is the past. Ours just isn't a good past."

"I'll be so happy when I die," he randomly interjected, heading to the door.

"Why?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.

He faced me again before saying, "Because then I'll feel like I'm at least a bit human."

"You are human. You feel, you react, and you protect. If that's not human then what is?"

"We were supposed to die that day you know, but we cheated death. Ever since then it's like we are invincible. We survived things that should have broken others. I don't feel human. I feel like a machine. One that can't alter itself or the way it acts. One who hasn't figured out how to reprogram itself to fit what the world has shown it. I want to believe again, Tora, but then the voices and sayings come back. It all falls away. I'm probably just being stupid. How's it coming?"

"I have the profiles. I'll let you look at them after the first round."

"Ok. I have to. Call me if you need anything," he shouted over his shoulder as he walked away.

I thought of a song. Seto's favorite song. _Crowded streets are cleared away, one by one. Hollow heroes separate as they run. You're so cold, but you feel alive. Wise men wonder while strong men die. _


	14. The Past is a Bitch

Tornado: Hello!!!! I'm sorry it's been so long since I last updated, but I have returned with new vigor and hope to entertain you for another chapter!

I had tired of staring mindlessly at a computer screen in a chair that was far from what I would call extreme comfort. I had printed out the documents, and retired to my (and Seto's) chamber.

I had spent far more time in the lab then I had originally planned, for my security up link informed me that the third duel was about to begin. This was one that interested me. Not only was Marik dueling, but also his opponent was Mai, who was a dear friend. However, I could not bring myself to turn my attention from the gods.

Not only had their power puzzled me, but ever since that freak accident that had occurred merely a half an hour before, I knew there was more to the powerful cards than Isis had originally let on.

I had stolen Seto's laptop and was pulling up all the statistics from the time of the thunderstorm. Models were in numerous windows as I watched the event unfold again and again still not seeing the warning signs. My instinct was to present my evidence to the Egyptian woman, however I knew it would be of no use. She would tell me no more than what I already knew.

I accepted the fact that there was no humanly explanation to render understanding to the already complex situation. I decided to let it go. By now, my beloved leather pants were becoming a pain in the ass to lounge in as well as the top and coat. I raided Seto's closet, discovering his blue trench coat and a set of green pants and matching shirt. I felt great sadness as the image of the last time he wore this came into view. He was lying in cell in the dingy dungeon underneath Pegasus's castle, soul no longer present in his young, handsome body. I felt like a hypocrite wearing this, but I knew that it was better than leather.

After redressing myself, I fiddled with the stereo, attempting to find the right station for music. It never occurred to me that when four thousand feet in the air, one has a difficult time finding a radio station, but luckily, my boy had taken great care to ensure that I was supplied all those things that I deemed necessary. A small CD case housed several personal favorites that would entertain me. I made a mental note to treat him very kindly when I laid eyes on him next. Selecting a random one, I allowed the music to take control of my body, whisking me off to never-never land.

I had a dreamless sleep, peaceful, unaffected by the ghastly images of the past. If I ever had I choice, I would prefer a dreamless sleep. The shrill sound of a phone ringing brought me back to reality. I was able to reach it just before it stopped.

"Hullo," I grumbled in grogginess.

"Twister? Sorry, did I wake you? Listen, something big has come up, and I need to speak with you right away. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Okay, so why call me?"

"I wanted to make sure that you were there and not still cooped up in the lab."

"It was you that assigned me that task you moron."

"Yes, but I saw that you were tired and didn't want you torturing yourself squinting at a screen like you do every other day. Anyway, I'll see you in a few."

I rose from my spot on the bed and snatched the trench coat out of the closet. Glancing at myself in the mirror, I tried to tidy my appearance. I had a habit of doing that whenever I knew that Seto was coming to see me. Although I didn't know why, we had known each other long enough not to care what the other looked like, but I always felt the need to be narcissistic. He entered while I was going about my routine, scoffing as he did so.

"Tora, I've seen you in situations looking the worst you possibly could, now why do you feel the need to make yourself pretty every time I'm near?"

"Oh, I don't know. I thought you liked pretty things," I said innocently, gazing into his sapphire orbs.

"I do, but those are materialistic things. I'd still be here even if you wore sweatpants and no makeup everyday of your life, but then again, you'd still be beautiful."

"What happened?" I stated angrily, knowing this was not the innocuous visit he was marking it as.

"What do you mean? 'What happened?'"

"Seto, I've known you all my life, and you don't go around saying mushy-gushy things unless there's bad news you're about to deliver. I'm not a child. I have lived through the loss of two parents, so give it to me straight."

"It's Mai. She had a duel with Marik, and now she's lying in her room unconscious. The doctors have no idea what is wrong with her or why it happened. They say she's in a coma, but her brain is too active for it to be classified as that. Tora, I'm sorry."

I couldn't respond. She had been dueling Marik, and I could only fathom what he had done to her. More than likely, he had taken her to the shadow realm, where he played some sick mind game with her. I felt my stance to become unsteady, and I fell to the side. A strong pair of arms caught me, drawing me close to their owner's body. I was vaguely aware of the whispers that were rushing from his mouth like sweet nothings, but my mind knew better than to believe it. One phrase caught my attention: "Don't cry." I wasn't crying, was I? I lifted my hand to my face, drawing back in horror when I reveled that I was. _Weakling. You haven't cried since you started taking those beatings. _But that wasn't true. I had rarely cried since 'diplomacy' had begun to control my life, but there had been one other occasion that was not too long ago. It was when I saw Seto in his duel with Pegasus, just before he lost. I had cried then, and it became my lullaby until I had seen that Pegasus had released his soul.

"Are you okay?" he whispered cautiously.

"Yes, but Seto, please be careful. You don't know what this guy will do to you. I lost you once, and I can't bear it twice!"

"Trust me, I can take care of myself. Are you going to watch me duel? It's all right if you aren't, but channel 36, incase you're interested," he called over his shoulder.

"I'll be sure to," I answered, slightly smiling.

"By the way," he started, peering in the door once more. "For some odd reason, I like you in my clothes better than your own. It's erotic."

I stared incredulously after him. There were times that he was so logical that I could have sworn he was a machine. Than there were times like these when he actually seemed human. I knew he knew that his statement would affect me this way. He had some kind of knack for cheering me up without actually doing anything funny. I loved it when he sounded human. He knew it and was thrilled to implore the idea occasionally, causing me to suspect that he needed to feel human as well.

I took a seat on the chair directly in front of the TV turning it to the said channel. It was from a security camera on the top area of the blimp. There was only one figure standing in the arena, which was surprising because I had never known Isis to be late for anything. I began to admire the man features just as I had done every time that he could not accuse me of doing so. I was amazed that he had gone from lightly joking to being an uptight asshole in less than five minutes. He was still handsome, but in a different way then he had been. Before he had been the down-to-earth, smart, cute, punk kid that everyone had a crush on, but now he was the one that the girls drooled over his picture but he was untouchable. I liked both equally, but staring at him now, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

I got up grab a Mike's Hard Limeade before the thoughts of Mai returned. I knew Marik would be ruthless, but I never would have guessed that he would get off on tormenting innocent bystanders, but isn't that what Isis had warned me about? Hadn't she said that he was more determined than ever to get the pharaoh's power? Then I had thought that she was directly referring to me, but oh I was wrong. She had given that warning so that I would protect all those closest to me. I fought back tears as I thought about losing Seto, Mokuba, and Serenity on top of Mai. If that occurred, I would have no reason left to live. Somewhere along the line, I drifted into sleep once more.

I was standing in his office, glaring at him with pleading eyes. There was no way he was going to abandon us. I had tried calmly discussing the issue, but he had adhered to his reasons. I raised my voice only to be shouted back at, and so now, on the edge of desperation, I was threatening him. I threatened to pack all my shit and leave if he dared to walk out that door. He just sat there, causing me to wonder if he had even heard me.

"Didn't you hear me? I said 'If you walk out that door, I won't be here when you come back," I said.

"Of course I heard you!" he snapped. "Frankly if you're going to bail out when the going gets tough, perhaps I don't even want you here when I come back!"

"Me bail out? I'm not the one that's packing their shit and disappearing from the view of al humanity because I lost one duel! I'm trying to convince you to stay!"

"Well, don't! I've made up my mind. I'm leaving, and if you want to do so as well, than why are you still here?"

I stormed out angrily, holding back the crystals that were threatening to fall. I gathered my coat and briefcase from my office. I had just pressed the button, summoning the elevator, when I heard footsteps behind me.

"You forgot your laptop," he said quietly. "Now you don't have a reason to come back."

The elevator doors slid open, and I stepped gracefully inside. I stared at him in the eye and said, "I didn't want one." I could have sworn that there was a saddened look spreading across his face as the doors closed.

The next thing I knew I was entering a large, stone mansion in the middle of a forest. The guards waved me past as I presented my security badge. Though I had not been able to enter the finals, I was still expected to be present during the time they were taking place. Pegasus had given me strict orders that were not to be violated. And so I dutifully made my way to the center of the castle, where I was told that a duel was taking place. The boys had said that it was of great interest to me. I had immediately scoffed, but knew that I could not find another alternative. I stepped onto a private platform, just behind the perch that Pegasus sat his royal ass on. There, as I gazed out upon the dueling arena, I saw the match-up that was the last pair I wanted to see facing each other. Pegasus smugly stood at one end, hiding behind the face of his loathsome toon monsters. I rolled my eyes at his cheating. The scream of a very familiar monster reached my ears accompanied by a commanding voice. My head spun wildly to the other end of the dueling arena. Seto Kaiba stood there looking slightly tried.

My heart stopped, and my knees threatened to give out. Part of me wanted to run away and find out the results when the duel was over, but something about the smug and desperate countenances the two displayed invoked my natural curiosity and protectiveness. I watched in horror as the duel began to unfold. Listening to the conversation (more precisely the banters Pegasus launched to psych Seto out) I learned of the plan that the silver-haired man had put into play. Anger overrode my senses, and a memorable urge to extract the gun from my pocket and assassinate him. With a quick glance at the balcony where spectators were observing the duel cured me of that. There was Bandit Keith, leaning smugly against the wall, Mai Valentine was not far from him, and Yugi Moto and the rest of his faceless posse. Mai's sad eyes caught mine, and she began expressing her sympathy. I turned away from her look and continued to watch the duel.

I felt my heart jerk every time Seto played a card and found myself doing something that I rarely ever did: praying. Usually didn't admit to believing in higher beings just as Seto did, but in this case, I felt like I had to do something other than stand there watching helplessly. When it truly surfaced in my mind what I was doing, I immediately stopped and began to preach a long line of regrets and phrases that I had wished that I could say to Seto.

I only wish that I had not left you alone that day when it was clear that you were in an hour of need, but I was only trying to convince you to stay for both your brother and I. You stubbornly stayed true to your resolve, and I knew that there was no other way to persuade you to stay. Why did you want to leave though? Did you think that Mokuba and I would abandon you because you were no longer the world champion? Was it some egotistic thing that you needed to deal with in private? Were you ashamed of yourself? I wish I had asked you that question before I played my threat card, but I didn't. I was too determined to get you to stay, and look where it gotten us. Mokuba is kidnapped, soulless, and being held hostage. You're there dueling by yourself with no one that cares about you standing behind you, and here I am on the side of the enemy, watching you helplessly as you begin to crumble. I only wish that I had said all the things that I think as I stand here today. Perhaps then this outcome would be different.

I stared as Pegasus made his final move. I knew this was the end. Somehow I couldn't believe that he had actually lost. This was not the fairytale ending that I had wanted. I whispered that it was all a dream, but as that final attack was called I knew that I was wrong. I took off running down the long hallway, navigating my way to him. Fear had now fully taken control of me as I dashed to his aide. I was just reaching the corridor leading to the arena, and I could see him for now at least. A blinding light flashed, obscuring my view. That was when the tears began to fall slowly at first but soon uncontrollably as I saw his blank eyes as the guards carried his limp body. I ran to them, snatching his body from the men and gripping his lifeless body as though it was the last bit of life that I had. I cried harder when there was no response from the young man. I looked up to find Pegasus staring at me sympathetically.

The setting faded and was replaced by a bedroom adorned in the most extravagant furniture known to man. Pegasus sat in front of me with indifference. My rage had transformed my body into a murderous weapon, ready to kill for the most minute reason. My fists were tightly balled, and I was wishing that I had not been stripped of my firearm.

"What seems to be the problem, my dear? You seem to be upset," the man stated coolly.

"I seem upset? I seem upset!! I'm sorry, but maybe you weren't there when you ripped my boyfriend's soul from his body!! Or when I ran to him crying my fucking eyes out!! So yeah, you could say that I'm upset."

"My dear Tora, I thought that you left Kaiba-boy, but now you claim that you care. I must say that your relationship with Kaiba-boy is rather estranged. You should not put yourself through that."

"I never said that I didn't care about him, but he doesn't give a damn about me!! How did you feel when you watched as Cecilia fade?!"

"Don't you ever mention her name again!"

"Well, now you know how I felt then! Now you release his goddamned soul right now!"

"I fear I can't do that. I told him that I would take his soul if he lost, and I am a man of my word. You of all people know that."

"You'd better grant me full security clearance, and no one else is allowed clearance. If you do not grant me these, I swear on my mother and father's graves that I will take you down with no mercy. In fact, if you don't release Mokuba and him as soon as this tournament, I will take you down with all the force I've got, but I want to let Yugi have first dibs. If he fails, you mark my words, you won't be able to walk."

I found myself in a cellar. A man lay motionless on the ground. I hadn't known why I had let Pegasus live, but that fact might have been contributed to the fact that I had been weaponless. I had made all the wrong decisions so far.

"I swear to god, Seto, I will make things right."

I was watching two brothers reunite. I smiled, admiring the bond that they shared.

"I'm sorry I'm not good enough for you. God I'm sorry."

"Tora, wake the hell up!"

My eyes shot open to find myself staring into those familiar blue ones. They were uncharacteristically concerned, and I was taken slightly aback that their owner's body was directly over mine. Seeing that I was awake, he climbed off and sat beside me on the bed, which caused me to look wildly about. I had been on the couch, watching the aspiring duel, but no, that wasn't even right. I didn't remember a thing that had happened.

"How did I get here?" I asked glaring at him, noticing that I was in different clothes.

"I found you asleep on the couch and still in your day clothes, so I took the liberty to get you changed an tucked into bed. Then you started mumbling random things like 'I swear to god, Seto, I will make things right' and 'I'm sorry I'm not good enough for you.' You were really creeping me out. What the hell were you dreaming about anyway?" Seto asked.

"I don't remember," I lied. "How was your duel?"

"An easy victory of course. I never expected that woman to be much of a challenge, but weird things had been happening to me lately. First, I had these hooded nut jobs following me around, trying to take my rare cards and being controlled by some whack-job named Marik. Then, when that white-haired kid, whatever his name was, changed the dueling arena into something that looked like it should have been out of a haunted house, and after that, there was a crazy thunder storm thing that knocked both contestants in the duel out for about five minutes. Then, Mai went into an isotope of a coma, and then I had these images of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and someone that looked like me kneeling in front of a stone tablet. Now, I'm reading languages that I've never even seen before."

"Hang on, did you just used the word 'isotope' in casual conversation?"

"Yeah, so?"

"This isn't fucking chemistry class here. You can use words known to half the human population."

"Even more evidence that I'm losing my mind. I haven't told you half the other weird stuff that happened to me before this. You weren't at Duelist Kingdom, so you wouldn't know the intimate details, but you go the main gist of it. And then there's the crap that Big Five pulled on me. And then there's the shit that that stupid, fatalistic woman was yapping about, trying to get me to hold this tournament. I swear I'm a magnet for nut-jobs."

"Obviously so, judging by your choice in women. What time is it anyway?"

"Time for you to go to bed. Mokuba already passed out on the couch, and I know that you're exhausted. I'll let you have the bed."

"Aren't you going to join me?"

"No, I have a lot of things that I need to think about."

"I'll help."

"No you're tired."

"Seto, I just slept for about two hours, so that's how long I'm good for. Besides, you'll pass out before me anyway."

He smiled gently at me, agreeing to converse. We just talked about anything that we could think of that wasn't related to all the shitty stuff that was going on around us. Cars, sex, video games, new ideas for technology, sex, booze (which we had begin drinking), sex, ECT. We finally gave up talking because the only subject that seemed to take the stress away was one that we had vowed not to do on the blimp, particularly with Mokuba in the room. I curled up next to him, laying my head on his chest. I felt guilty lying to him the way I did, but I knew the information would hurt him. You don't really lye to him, you just choose not to mention things. Besides, he probably does the same thing to you anyway, right? A part of me hoped so while the other did not. I'll tell him, all in good time.

Tornado: Whew, that was a long chapter. I hoped you liked. R&R.


	15. Enter the Sadow Realm pt 1

Tornado: Hiya peeps! I know the last chapter was a little iffy, but hopefully this one will be better. Please be sure to read the little note at the end; there will be a note about what's going to happen in the next couple of chapters. On with the fic!

* * *

I opened my eyes and rolled over to find myself alone in bed. A long sigh escaped me as I thought about the routine that I was faced with. Seto, it seemed, was never in bed the morning after we shared a bed. Hell, he was never in the room when I woke up. I laid in bed for several more minutes before a voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Hey, you awake yet, Sleeping Beauty? We're almost there."

"Seto?" I asked the air drowsily. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me. Come on," he purred, kissing my neck. "Get up. It's been nearly three weeks. I have some business that I want to take care of before we land."

"What business would that be?" I asked mischievously.

"I think that you know exactly what I'm talking about," he replied, pinning me against the bed. "We've got about ten minutes before we land. That gives us just enough time."

I smirked, kissing him passionately, thoroughly enjoying what I had been denied for an "eternity." His hands slid underneath my shirt. We were just getting into our activity when the aircraft jolted, sending us tumbling to the floor. Seto immediately jumped off of me and grabbed his coat, which was discarded on the sofa, before dashing out the door. I too shot off the floor before rummaging through the closet, quickly donned a suit that I had left there from a previous occasion. I tore out the door, heading directly to the cockpit just in time to feel the second wave of turbulence.

The metal doors slid open, and I angrily burst through shouting, "What the hell's going on?"

"Something's taken over the navigation system, and I can't control it," Roland answered, panic shining brightly in his voice.

"Shit! Why does this shit always happen to us?" I yelled.

The doors slid open once more, and the remainder of the group appeared. They all looked particularly disheveled, rightfully so seeing how they were probably not accustomed to rising at such an "early" hour in the morning. Serenity cowered behind her older brother, reminding me of how Mokuba hid behind Seto or rather how Seto ordered Mokuba to stand behind him.

"What's going on? Some of us sleep past five!" the pointy haired brunette shouted, whose name was anonymous.

"What's up with turbulence?" Joey asked.

"We've hit a glitch. Apparently there's something that has taken control of our autopilot, and had turned us off our course to Kaiba Corp Island," Seto answered, nodding towards a mass of land topped with rubble and an obelisk towering over the ruins.

"That bunch of rock is Kaiba Corp Island?" the blonde returned.

"That tower is symbol of a new era. It represents the new triumphing over the old," he half whispered, staring out at the spire.

"What the hell was that mumbo jumbo?"

"Kaiba Corps wasn't always a gaming company. Our step dad originally created it to be military weaponry manufacturer until Seto took it over and turned it into a gaming company. That island out there used to be the company's headquarters, but Seto tore down all the factories and built that duel tower over top of it," Mokuba eagerly explained as if that would justify his brother's actions.

"That's enough, Mokuba," his brother scolded, causing both Mokuba and I to jump slightly before bowing our heads sheepishly.

"I think we hit a soft spot."

My protective genes kicked in once the comment had disturbed the air. I knew all too well what Seto had gone through when Gozaburo adopted him and the disappointments that he had suffered. His posture shifted to a stronger pose, attempting desperately to shake the remark. The aircraft gave another jolt, beginning a rapid downward descent. My hands gripped the sides of the computer system that Mokuba was situated at.

"Sir, things have gotten worse. We're losing altitude rapidly!" Roland reported.

"You think!" I exclaimed.

"I can see that, you buffoon!" Seto replied angrily.

We began pulling away from the water. Everyone was trying to collect him or herself from the tussle that we had just encountered. I glanced up to find a pair of sapphire eyes giving me a sidelong glance of concern. With a slight nod of my head, I satisfied the owner's inquiries, and he returned to his normal proud state.

"Is everyone alright?" Roland asked, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Aside from the whip lash and a twisted ankle, yeah I guess," the brunette said.

"Can you say lawsuit!" Wheeler jeered, causing me to grit my teeth.

"Greetings, duelists!" an adolescent voice called over the speaker system.

"What the…" I started, watching the television screens turn to static.

"There's nothing wrong with your television sets," the voice stated again as the static faded, and a face replaced it.

It was the image of a boy no older than Mokuba. He had sea green hair that reminded me of the color associated with puke green and blue eyes, which, had they been amplified and aged, could have been a duplicate of Seto's. There was a smug smirk plastered on his face, causing me to believe that he was the son of some blue-blooded family. Something told me that this was not good at all.

"Identify yourself," Seto barked.

"You're always barking orders, aren't you Seto? I've been watching you. I know everything about you. You and I go a long way back."

"Look, you punk, end this charade right now. You don't know who you're messing with."

"I know exactly who I'm messing with. You're a lair and a thief. You stole what was rightfully mine."

"Who the hell are you?"

"There you go with the orders again, Seto. If you must know, my name is Noah, and I've come to take back what is mine!"

"Look, kid," I started, feeling the desperate need to defend the honor of Kaiba Corps (how stupid that sounded in my head.) "When we get out of this mess, we'll find you, and I can grantee that I will personally ensure that the necessary measures are taken to punish this act of terrorism!"

"Seto, you'd be well advised to tell your servant to keep her mouth shut, and her nose where it belongs."

"Why you little, snot-nosed brat!" I yelled.

"Anyway, I hope that you all will join me for some fun."

"Not a chance," Seto stated. "I've got things to do and people to beat, so end this right now or I will!"

"You don't have a choice in the matter."

The screen returned to a picture of Kaiba Corp Island, and the abnormal waves of ocean water drew my, as well the others, attention. A large fortress began rising out of the water. I felt my mouth drop open as the mass continued to grow. There were idle comments about the monstrosity before us, and the pit of my stomach dropped to my feet. _This is so not good._

"Mr. Kaiba, we appear to be heading toward that thing. He's activated the landing gears. There's nothing I can do, sir."

"Well, you gotta do something!" Duke Devlin cried.

"It's no use guys. That kid's got us right where he wants us. I just wish I knew where that is," Joey said.

"Trapped," I whispered. "That's where he's got us."

The doors on top of the citadel opened. The gap was large enough to fit a small air force fleet in the space. There was something abnormal about the way this kid worked; it was advanced. He had an underwater fortress, and he had the capabilities to hack into one of the most secure security systems in the world, which was concocted by the person who ran a technology company and could hack into the government systems. He wasn't working alone. I could tell that Seto saw the same things that I did. His eyes were glaring out of the window as if debating the course of action he should take.

There was idle talk being exchanged between the tech crew and pilots. I knew that there was nothing that those idiots could do to stop this, not in the amount of time that we had. Not even Seto or I could even break the bond that kid had placed on our system. Finally, the craft touched down on the ground. Seto immediately began moving to the door.

"Now, Seto, could you and your friends please exit the aircraft?"

"Stay here. I'll handle this," he said.

"You can't go out there alone, Kaiba," Yugi stated.

"Watch me. This is my battle, Yugi. So don't do me any favors."

"I have to agree, Seto. You really should let me at least go with you."

"Yeah, Seto," Mokuba agreed, running to his side.

"What the hell are you going to do? No, both of you are going to stay. I'll handle this by myself. Noah, I'll be coming out to you alone! Any questions?"

Suddenly, there was a mechanical sound echoing through the metal auditorium. The ship was suddenly rendered useless under an attack of some kind of lasers. Seto's body was instantaneously repositioned to shield his younger brother from any harm that might come to him. My hand robotically rose to screen my eyes from the flashes that the guns had let off. The attack ceased as soon as it had begun, but there was no sound to say that arms had retracted into the walls.

"Now, are we ready to try this again? Please exit the aircraft with your friends," Noah chided.

"I can answer that for him!" Joey yelled as he followed Seto, Mokuba, and me out the door.

"Thank you, now we can proceed with this little party. Continue to the end of the hall."

"Just let me handle this. This won't take long."

"Look, Kaiba, I don't know what kind of beef this kid's got against you, but now we're in the middle of this. So you better get used to our help," Joey stated.

"Why are you doing this, Noah?" Yugi asked the air.

"It'll all be made clear soon enough. Just continue to the end of the hall where my _associates_ are waiting. They're especially excited to see you, Seto."

I was getting my fill of the kid's snotty attitude, yet there was something ever familiar about the way this was being conducted. It was almost like a business deal. There were specific instructions, and they were to be followed, no questions asked. Whoever this kid was there was two things for certain: he wasn't working alone and he had spent a lot of time planning.

I stayed dangerously close to Seto, fearing that there was a hidden gun around that might shoot him where he stood. He shot me a heated glare, but it subsided the minute he looked in my eyes. It was almost as if he could sense that I was out of my mind in worry, and his expression wasn't helping me in the least. He turned away from me.

Up ahead, I could barely depict the incandescence of something. It lit the dark, metallic hallway, foretelling the end of the corridor. I picked up the pieces of my mind that had been shattered from the recent events and tried to resurrect the façade that I used when doing business deals. Taking deep, steady breaths, I followed Seto through the opening, ensuring that Mokuba was not out of arm's reach. The room was still composed entirely of metal, and the ceilings rose to the heights beyond the eye's seeing capabilities. It was empty. There was something though that was paranormal. I felt the presence of people. Not just any people, people that knew me. Seto stepped forward slightly, blocking my view from the room's contents.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" Yugi asked.

Laughter was the reply that echoed, cold, cynical laughter. The sounds shot through my brain like a bullet, tearing the forgotten memories that I had chosen to bury. Fear was now clenching my heart for Seto and the rest of our comrades. Seto was frozen stiff, as though he had been shot with a stun agent. I wanted to leap in front of him, holding him protectively in my arms. I remained still.

"No! It can't be!" Seto stuttered incredulously.

The images of five silhouetted figures appeared. In the course of a few seconds, the shadows faded, unveiling the true villains that we had expected. Shock and fear were now conquered by rage. The same rage that I had fought to restrain when they had attempted their little charade the first time. I scoffed quietly.

"Surprised to see us?" one asked.

"Why do these guys seem familiar?" Joey inquired.

"These guys were the slime balls that sold my brother out to Pegasus. Gansley, Crump, Johnson, Lector, and Nesbitt. Also known as the Big Five. They were the ones that trapped my brother in his virtual game and take over his company," Mokuba answered.

"Almost right. My stepfather hired them toact his board of directors, but that wasn't enough power for them. They had to control my company to be satisfied."

"Why the bitter looks, Mr. Kaiba? We're the ones that are trapped in this virtual hell while you get to roam free," one remarked.

"How did you escape the virtual world?" Seto queried.

"We've been trapped in this world too long, and our bodies have become useless. We first found Noah when he first hacked into our computer mainframe. Once we found that we both shared the common enemy of Seto Kaiba. Noah uploaded our minds to his system. Now, we want revenge."

"You should have done us all a favor and stayed there where there was no one for you to disgust," I commented.

"You'd be well advised to watch your mouth, Miss Lireal. You never know how much trouble it could get you into."

"Was that a threat? You know how I respond to those."

"Confidence will be your downfall. You're too hubris for your own good. Perhaps when we escape into the real world, we can be the perfect pair of lovers."

"In your dreams. I'd never degrade myself to a bunch of sleaze bags like you."

"Not even if we had Seto's body? We've been here for too long. We're going to escape to the real world in one of your bodies. How will we do this you ask? We're going to play a game."

"What kind of game?" Seto asked.

"Oh, it's one your quite familiar with, Mr. Kaiba. It's a game of Duel Monsters, but we've changed the rules to give us the advantage."

"I've defeated you once before, and I'll gladly do it again, no matter what these new rules are."

"Are you so confident now that you have your partner in crime by your side? She'll be of no use to you; we'll make sure of that. No, lets take a look at the new rules and give you a taste of the world that you'll be trapped in forever!"

The room became blinded us with its luminosity. I closed my eyes and prayed that I was going to wake up from this dream in about twenty seconds and find myself lying in my bed, getting ready to land at Kaiba Corp Island. I peeked for just a few moments. Everything was blue with white lines shaping the abyss into a hallway-like structure. _What the hell?_ I thought just before my body connected with something very hard, and I lost consciousness.

My body ached. My head felt like it was going to split into two halves. A putrid smell tickled my nostrils, causing me to nearly bolt from slumberous state. I summoned the little strength I had to raise myself from the ground. The others were already getting up as well. For the first time, I looked at my surroundings. I felt my mouth drop open. The metal room had vanished and there was now a jungle in its place.

"Is everyone all right?" Mokuba asked practically clinging to his older brother. There was a chorus of "yes."

"Wow, look at this place. How did we go from being in a dark room to being in the middle of a jungle?" the brunette girl asked.

"Weren't you geeks listening? This is all a holographic simulation," Seto replied annoyed.

I found it rather hard to believe that Noah and the Big Five created this entire world themselves. There was so much detail involved in the simulation. The blades of grass were as clear as they were in the real world. It was almost an exact copy of the virtual world that Seto and I had worked on. There was suddenly a very loud, steady rumbling that seemed to be growing closer with every passing second. The palm trees parted, revealing a large dinosaur.

"D-don't panic, it's just a hologram," Wheeler said.

"Are you sure?" Serenity asked.

"Why don't I seem sure?"

"He's right, but just to be on the safe side, we might want to run!" I yelled as the beast started swinging its claw.

Seto was the only one that stayed put. There was no one trace of anything even closely related to fear crossing his face. In fact, the only thing on his face was smugness. The dinosaur's claw became transparent the minute it passed through him. Disappointed, it stomped off terrorize another person. I furrowed my eyebrows. If they had spent so much time making everything look and smell as real as it did, why didn't they take the time to make it feel real?

"Huh, I knew it. These holograms are amateur. I was writing better programs when this kid was in diapers," Seto scoffed.

"I don't know, Seto. There's something really weird about this whole thing," I said, gazing around at the other projectiles.

The brunette girl, who struck me as really ditzy, was kneeling by an orange flower. Her hand passed through the image as well. A slight rustling caught my attention as well as hers. She looked up to find a copy of Seto standing in front of her. It was rather comical to see the way she reacted to the twin of the CEO. Once, she saw that Seto was standing behind, she flew back about three feet and stopped right at his feet. He grumpily reminded her that it was only a copy.

"I used to create copies of myself to duel against all the time."

"Why make copies of yourself?" someone asked.

"Who better?"

"Don't let him fool you. He's really a narcissist, and just uses the dueling as an excuse to stare at himself the entire time," I interjected, jokingly, which earned me a very nasty glare.

"Attention, everybody," invisible voices stated. "We are now going to demonstrate the new rules that we have installed."

I listened attentively as they explained how the new rules worked (1). We watched as virtual Kaiba played. I couldn't help but shed a "Who'd of thought that he was going to play THAT card!" when virtual Kaiba played the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. That earned me a few sniggers and another glare. I thought that virtual Kaiba had the duel in the bag, but I should have known that that was not going to happen with the Big five organizing the duel. Of course, the opponent's deck master had some special ability that would counter and wipe out the rest of his life points.

"Soon that will happen to the real Seto Kaiba," the voices said.

"C'mon, you creeps! Just let us out of here!" Wheeler yelled.

More laughter. The scene began to fade, and was replaced with the depressing metal one that we had originally been in. Confusion swept over my body. I didn't understand how they had done that, and then the pieces fell into place. We hadn't been able to feel anything because there was nothing in close enough range to cause our nerves to register any kind of physical reaction.

"We've never even left this room. You'll be getting used to this world soon enough because you'll be trapped here forever."

"What makes you so sure that you can defeat us? I mean, the only thing that you five white collars were ever good for was showing how out of date Gozaburo was, and to think that you were once considered the most "updated" thing," I taunted.

"You may think that you're hot stuff now, Miss Lireal, but how do you think you'll last when you're trapped here for an eternity? There are no motorcycles here nor are there any computers for you to be working on your fiction. Yes, we know all about you using Kaiba Corp time to work on your secondary job, but I don't think that Mr. Kaiba did, do you?"

"What she does in her office is her is her business. As long as she completes her work and it's accurate, I can't complain. It's better than the work that you produced!" he responded.

"Not that either of you will have to worry about that ever again because you'll be here for the rest of your pathetic lives. Our analysis shows that your chances of escaping are zero percent and falling sharply. In other words, you kids are toast! Well put, Crump. It's only a matter of time before the five are set free from this virtual prison. Remember, when one of you are defeated, we'll claim control of your bodies, leaving your minds trapped here forever!"

"These crooks haven't changed a bit," Seto said.

"Yeah, and they still have bad grammar usage," I added.

"Tora, I'm getting sick of your snide remarks. They're coming at really inopportune moments."

"Yeah, the pot calls the kettle black!"

"Enough, you guys. Let's get this party started. You five stiffs are going down!" Joey yelled.

"Who's going down?"

A hole in the floor opened right beneath his feet. Serenity screamed as she ran to the edge, staring down after him. My stomach bottomed out. They were really going to separate us. I feared for Serenity. She couldn't duel.

"As you can see, before the virtual dueling begins, we plan to separate all of you."

The brunette girl was the next to fall. Yugi rushed over to the spot that she had been just moments ago. Serenity was the next one to disappear, causing my body to go into a slight panic. Duke and the other brunette fell down the hole with my friend. Mokuba dashed to Seto's side just before the two of them vanished. Within seconds, Yugi left, and I was alone.

"Seto, Mokuba! You assholes! What the hell do you think you're doing! Can't you see that what you're doing si not going to get you anywhere? You can never do for Kaiba Corps what Seto has done!" I cried.

"You're only saying that because you barely remember how it was before Seto took over. Don't worry, you'll soon be trapped here with your beloved boyfriend. Then you'll have him all to yourself if you can find him!"

I felt the floor yield under my weight. A scream escaped my lips as I began to be consumed by the endless light void. It felt like an eternity before I collided with the ground, but I was definitely felt it when I did land. Once again, my mind shut off.

* * *

Tornado: Okay. Some of you may be wondering why there was a random (1) placed in the text. That was just saying that if I really have to explain all the rules over again, I'll do so in a later chapter. If you need those repeated, just say so in a review.

As for the important note that I had talked about earlier, I'm going to include Kaiba's POV for the next couple of chapters because most of the Big Five takeover conflict is about Kaiba and Noah. Also, these next couple of chapters (as well as the previous one) is going to be about the relationship between Seto and Tora.

Anyway, RR.


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